Oh yes, I read that story. A raven told Apollo that his cows had been stolen by Hermes ("the Twelfth Olypmian"), but Apollo called the raven a liar and turned it black. Then Apollo found out it was true.
Ravens DO talk. Picture this scenario: people in a skin boat course along the Pacific coast of the Americas, as the last continental glacier is receding.
A raven consort, perched on his (males talk more) mount at the front of the kayak, is sent aloft to scout for game or enemies. he spies a herd of mastodons, drinking from a stream that rages down to the sea. He returns to the boat and says, in human tongue "Game. Big game." Then chuckles in satisfaction as ravens are wont to do. ( I have them near me on the Blue Ridge in Virginia where they soar along the cliffs and speak incessantly )
Finding the game the male and female hunters (women were equal before patriarchy) approach and slay what they will. The raven feasts as they do, watching with glittering eye as the fire dies down on the shingled shore, the waves breaking in the background. The hunters are blond, and the woman's golden braid trails down her tanned back.
Magic was afoot in those times and we barely know of what they did. All I have said is science, which is what magic is, together in the same boat.
Blessings,
Arne
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