The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: γρύψ|grýps; Classical Latin: grȳps or grȳpus;[1] Late and Medieval Latin:[2] gryphes, grypho etc.; Old French: griffon) is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle with its talons on the front legs.
Because the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts, and the eagle the king of the birds, by the Middle Ages, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Since classical antiquity, griffins were known for guarding treasures and priceless possessions.
In Greek and Roman texts, griffins and Arimaspians were associated with gold deposits of Central Asia. The earliest classical writings derive from Aristeas (7th cent. BC), preserved by Herodotus and Aeschylus (mid 5th century BC), but the physical descriptions are not very explicit. Thus even though they are sharp-beaked, their being likened to "unbarking hounds of Zeus" has led to the speculation they were seen as wingless.
Pliny the Elder (1st century) was the first to explicitly state that griffins were winged and long eared. But Apollonius of Tyana wrote that griffins did not have true bird wings, but only membranous webbed feet that only gave them capability of short-distanced flight. Writers after Aelian (3rd century AD) did not add new material to griffin lore, except for the later lore that griffins deposited agate stone among the eggs in their nest.
Pliny placed the griffins in Æthiopia, and Ctesias (5th century BC) in greater India. Scholars have observed that legends about the gold-digging ants of India may have contaminated griffin lore.
In the Christian era, Isidore of Seville (7th century AD) wrote that griffins were a great enemy of horses. This notion may have readily developed from the tradition that horseback-riding Arimaspians raided the griffin gold.
The derivation of this word remains uncertain. It could be related to the Greek word Greek, Modern (1453-);: γρυπός (grypos), meaning 'curved', or 'hooked'. Greek Greek, Modern (1453-);: γρύφ (gryph) from Greek, Modern (1453-);: γρύφ 'hook-nosed' is suggested.
It could also have been an Anatolian loan word derived from a Semitic language; compare the Hebrew word for cherub Hebrew: כרוב kərúv.[3] [4]
In the modern Persian language, the griffin has come to be called shirdal (Persian: {{linktext|شیردال), meaning 'lion-eagle'. However, the practice of referring to ancient Iranian griffin objects or monuments as shirdal, is not followed by other current archaeological scholarship (e.g., here).
Possible Old or Middle Iranian names for the creature have been discussed. Middle Persian Sēnmurw in Sasanian culture was a fabulous composite creature, and Russian archaeologist argued for the possibility that the application of this term may extend to the griffin. The term Sēnmurw is recognized as the etymological ancestor of simurgh, which is generally regarded as a mythological bird (rather than a composite) in later medieval Persian literature, though some argue that this bird may have originated from the Mesopotamian lion-griffin.
There is also the Armenian term Paskuč (Armenian: պասկուչ) that had been used to translate Greek gryp 'griffin' in the Septuagint, which H. P. Schmidt characterized as the counterpart of the simurgh. However, the cognate term Baškuč (glossed as 'griffin') also occurs in Middle Persian, attested in the Zoroastrian cosmological text Bundahishn XXIV (supposedly distinguishable from Sēnmurw which also appears in the same text). Middle Persian Paškuč is also attested in Manichaean magical texts (Manichaean Middle Persian: pškwc), and this must have meant a "griffin or a monster like a griffin" according to W. B. Henning.
The griffin was given names which were descriptive epithets, such as or tesh-tesh meaning "Tearer[-in-pieces]" inscribed on a griffin image found in a tomb at Deir El Bersha; and / "fiery one", attested at Beni Hasan. The descriptive epithet "Tearer" is not uniquely applied to the griffin beast, and has also been used to denote the god Osiris elsewhere.
Most statuary representations of griffins depict them with bird-like forelegs and talons, although in some older illustrations griffins have a lion's forelegs (see bronze figure, right); they generally have a lion's hindquarters. Its eagle's head is conventionally given prominent ears; these are sometimes described as the lion's ears, but are often elongated (more like a horse's), and are sometimes feathered.
The griffin of Greece, as depicted in cast bronze cauldron protomes (cf. below), has a squat face with short beaks that are open agape as if screaming, with the tongue showing. There is also a "top-knob" on its head or between the brows.
There may also be so-called "tendrils", or curled "spiral-locks" depicted, presumably representing either hair/mane or feather/crest locks dangling down. Single- or double-streaked tendrils hang down both sides and behind the griffin's neck, carven on some of the Greek protomes. The tendril motif emerged at the beginning of the first millennium, BC., in various parts of the Orient. The "double spiral of hair running downwards from the base of the ear" is said to be a hallmark of Iranian (Uratrian) art. The Etruscan cauldron-griffins (e.g., from, figure right) also bear the "curled tresses" that are the signature of Uratrian workmanship. Even the ornate crests on Minoan griffins (such as the fresco of the Throne Room, figure top of page) may be a development of these curled tresses.[5]
One prominent characteristic of the cauldron griffins is the "top-knob between the brows" (seemingly situated at the top of the head).
The top-knob feature has clear oriental origins.[6] Jack Leonard Benson says these appendages were "topknots" subsequently rendered as "knobs" in later development of the cauldron Griffins. Benson's emphasis is that the Greeks attached a stylized "anorganic" topknot or an "inorganic" plug on the griffin's head (due to lack of information), while in contrast, a known oriental example (stone protomes from Nimrud) is simple but more "plausible" (naturalistic), resembling a forelock.[7]
A cluster of "warts" between the eyes are also mentioned. One conjecture is that these derive from the bumps (furrows) on a lion's snout.[8] Another view regards the wart as deriving from the bumpy cockscomb on a rooster or other such fowls.
Griffin-like animals were depicted on cylinder seals in Mesopotamia 3000 BC,[9] perhaps as early as the Uruk period (4000–3100BC) and subsequent Proto-Elamite (Jemdet Nasr) period. An example of a winged lion with beaks, unearthed in Susa (cf. fig. right) dates to the 4th millennium B.C., and is a unique example of a griffin-like animal with a male lion's mane. However, this monster then ceased to continue to be expressed after the Elamite culture.
What the Sumerians of the Early Dynastic period portrayed instead were winged lions, and the lion-headed eagle (Imdugud).
In the Akkadian Empire that succeeded Sumer, early examples (from early 3rd millennium BC) of lions with bird heads appeared on cylinder seals, shown pulling the chariots for its rider, the weather god. The "lion-griffin" on Akkadian seals are also shown as fire-belching, and shaggy (at the neck) in particular examples.[10]
The bronzeworks of Luristan, the North and North West region of Iran in the Iron Age, include examples of Achaemenid art depicting both the "bird-griffin" and "lion-griffin" designs, such as are found on horse-bits. Bernard Goldman maintains the position that Luristan examples must be counted as developments of the "lion-griffin" type, even when it exhibits "stylization .. approaching the beak of a bird".[11] The Luristan griffin-like creatures resemble and perhaps are descended from Assyrian creatures, possibly influenced by Mitannian animals,[12] or perhaps there had been parallel development in both Assyrian and Elamite cultures.
Bird-headed mammal images appeared in art of the Achaemenian Persian Empire. Russian jewelry historian Elena Neva maintained that the Achaemenids considered the griffin "a protector from evil, witchcraft, and secret slander",[13] but no writings exist from Achaemenid Persia to support her claim. R.L. Fox (1973) remarks that a "lion-griffin" attacks a stag in a pebble mosaic at Pella, from the 4th century BC,[14] [15] perhaps serving as an emblem of the kingdom of Macedon or a personal emblem of Antipater, one of Alexander's successors.
A golden frontal half of a griffin-like animal from the Ziwiye hoard (near Saqqez city) in Kurdistan Province, Iran resembles the western protomes in style.[16] They were of Urartian workmanship (neither Assyrian or Scythian), though the hoard itself may have represented a Scythian burial.[17] The animal is described as having a "visor" (i.e., beaks) made by Urartian craftsmen, similar to what is found on Greek protomes.
Representations of griffin-like hybrids with four legs and a beaked head appeared in Ancient Egyptian art dating back to before 3000 BC.[18] The oldest known depiction of agriffin-like animal in Egypt appears as a relief carving on slate on the cosmetic palette from Hierakonpolis, the Two Dog Palette dated to the Early Dynastic Period, BC.[19]
Griffin-type creatures combining raptor heads and mammalian bodies were depicted in the Levant, Syria, and Anatolia during the Middle Bronze Age,[20] [21] dated at about 1950–1550 BC.[22]
Griffin-type animals appeared in the art of ancient Crete in the MM III Period (1650–1600 BC) in Minoan chronology, found on sealings from Zakro and miniature frescos dated to this period. One early example of griffin-types in Minoan art occurs in the 15th century BC frescoes of the Throne Room of the Bronze Age Palace of Knossos, as restored by Sir Arthur Evans.
The griffin-like hybrid became a fixture of Aegean culture since the Late Bronze Age, but the animal called the gryps, gryphon, or griffin in Greek writings did not appear in Greek art until about 700 BC, or rather, it was "rediscovered" as artistic motif in the 8th to 7th centuries BC, adapting the style of griffin current in Neo-Hittite art.[23] It became quite popular in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, when the Greeks first began to record accounts of the "gryps" creature from travelers to Asia, such as Aristeas of Proconnesus. A number of bronze griffin protomes on cauldrons have been unearthed in Greece (on Samos, and at Olympia, etc., cf. fig. right). Early Greek and early Etruscan (e.g. the Barberini) examples of cauldron-griffins may have been of Syric-Urartian make, based on evidence (the "tendrils" or "tresses" motif was already touched upon, above), but "Vannic (Urartian) originals" have yet to be found (in the Orient). It has thus been controversially argued (by) that these attachments had always since the earliest times been crafted by Greek workshops, added to the plain cauldrons imported from the Near East. Detractors (notably K. R. Maxwell-Hyslop) believe that (early examples of[24]) the griffin-ornamented cauldron, in its entirely, were crafted in the East, though excavated finds from the Orient are scarce.[25] [26]
In Central Asia, the griffin image was included in Scythian "animal style" artifacts of the 6th–4th centuries BC, but no writings explain their meaning. The Golden Pectoral from Tovsta Mohyla, interred in Scythian king's burial site, perhaps commissioned to Greek goldsmiths, who engraved the image of a griffin attacking a horse. Other Scythian artifacts show griffins attacking horses, stags, and goats. Griffins are typically shown attacking horses, deer, and humans in Greek art. Nomads were said to steal griffin-guarded gold according to Scythian oral traditions reported by Greek and Roman travelers.
Several ancient mythological creatures are similar to the griffin. These include the Lamassu, an Assyrian protective deity, often depicted with a bull or lion's body, eagle's wings, and human's head.
Sumerian and Akkadian mythology feature the demon Anzu, half man and half bird, associated with the chief sky god Enlil. This was a divine storm-bird linked with the southern wind and the thunder clouds.
Jewish mythology speaks of the Ziz, which resembles Anzu, as well as the ancient Greek Phoenix. The Bible mentions the Ziz in Psalms 50:11. This is also similar to a cherub. The cherub, or sphinx, was very popular in Phoenician iconography.
In ancient Crete, griffins became very popular, and were portrayed in various media. A similar creature is the Minoan Genius.
In the Hindu religion, Garuda is a large bird-like creature that serves as a mount (vahana) of the deity Vishnu. It is also the name for the constellation Aquila.
Local lore on the gryps or griffin was gathered by Aristeas of Proconnesus, a Greek who traveled to the Altai region between Mongolia and NW China in the 7th century BC. Although Aristeas's original poem was lost, the gryps lore preserved in secondhand accounts by the playwright Aeschylus (ca. 460 BC), and later his contemporary, Herodotus the historian.
Herodotus explains (via Aristeas) that the gold-guarding griffin supposedly dwelled further north from the one-eyed Arimaspi people who robbed the gold from the fabulous creatures. Aristeas is said to have been informed through the Issedones people neighboring region to the Arimaspi, in the northern extremes (of Central Asia). Aeschylus also concurs that the Arimaspi robbed the gold which the griffins collected from various areas in the periphery (presumably including the Armaspi's territorial stream, the stream of Pluto "rolling with gold"). The equestrian Arimaspi would ride off with the loot, and the griffins would give pursuit.
Aeschylus likened the gryps to "silent hounds of Zeus" That they are called dogs or hounds here has led to the conjecture that Aeschylus considered them wingless or flightless.
Whereas Ctesias, had located the griffins in India, and more explicitly classed them as beaked, four-legged birds.
Herodotus also mentions elsewhere that there are gold-collecting ants in Kashmir, India, and this has been interpreted by modern scholars as "doublets or garbled versions" of the lore of gold-hoarding griffins. It appears that the accounts of griffins given by Pliny had been admixed with the lore of these gold-guarding ants of India, and later Aelian also inserted attributes of the ant into his description of griffins.
Later, Pliny the Elder became the first to explicitly state the griffins as having wings and long ears.[27] In one of the two passages, Pliny also located the "griffons" in Æthiopia. According to Adrienne Mayor, Pliny also wrote, "griffins were said to lay eggs in burrows on the ground and these nests contained gold nuggets".[28]
Apollonius of Tyana, who was nearly coeval with Pliny, gave a somewhat unique account of the griffin, claiming them to be lion-sized, and having no true wings, and instead had paws "webbed with red membranes", that gave them ability to makes leaps of flight of only a short distance.[29]
Pomponius Mela (fl. AD 43) wrote in his Book ii. 6:
The aforementioned Aelian (Claudius Aelianus, d. 235 AD) added certain other embellishments, such as its reputation of "black plumage on its back with a red chest and white wings". Aelian was the last source on the griffin to add fresh information on the griffin, and late writers (into medieval times) merely rehashed existing material on griffins, with the exception of the lore about their "agate eggs" which emerged at some indistinct time later on (cf. infra).[30]
The griffin has been associated with various deities (Apollo, Dionysus, Nemesis), in Greek mythography but here, the identifiable attested "accounts" presented in scholarship are largely not literary, but artistic,[31] or numismatic.
The griffin was naturally linked to Apollo, given the existence of the cultus of Hyperborean Apollo, with a cult center at the Greek colony of Olbia on the Black Sea. And even the main Temple of Apollo at Delphi featured a statue of the god flanked by griffins, or so it can be presumed based on the representation struck on the tetradrachm coinage of Attica. Apollo rode a griffin to Hyperboria each winter, leaving Delphi, or so it was believed. Apollo riding griffin is known from multiple examples of red-figure pottery.[32] And Apollo hitched griffins to his chariot according to Claudian.
Dionysus was also depicted on a griffin-chariot or mounting griffin; the motif was borrowed from the god Apollo due to "syncretism between the two gods".
At the Temple of Hera at Samos, a griffin-themed bronze "wine-cup" or "cauldron" had been installed, according to Herodotus. The vessel was attached griffin heads around the rim (like the protomes, described above): it was an Argolic or Argive krater, according to the text, standing on a tripod shaped like colossal figures.[33]
"the top-knob on the cauldron griffin is a straight-forward carryover from its oriental counterparts".
"wart-like protuberances between the eyes..natural property of the lion". An example from the east is given as Fig. 10: "Lion-griffin. Middle Assyrian (after Corpus 596)".
"the griffin-headed bird appears in the orientalizing phase of seventh century B.C. Greek art".
"Aelian is the last literary text dealing with the griffin considered here; after his account,.. no new information about the gryps was added, except for 'agate eggs'"
