The History behind the Gryphon
There are 24 ways "Gryphon" has been spelled through time: Gryffen, girphinne, greffon, grefyne, grephoun, griffen, griffin, griffion, griffon, griffoun(e), griffown, griffun, griffyn, grifon, grifyn, griphin, griphon, gryffin, gryffon, gryfon, gryfoun(e), gryphen, gryphin, and gryphon.
This mystical creature had the body of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and back covered with feathers. Gryphons, like birds, built nests, or eyries (aeries), as the nest of a bird of prey is called. The Gryphon laid an agate, rather than an egg, therein. Gryphons found gold in the mountains and made their nests from it. This made their eyries very tempting to hunters, so Gryphons were forced to keep vigilant guard over their nests. Gryphons had instinct which allowed them to know where buried treasure was, and they would apply themselves to guarding it as best they could, keeping plunderers at distance.
The Gryphon myth originates somewhere in the Near or Middle East. It is found depicted in ancient Babylonian, Assyrian, and Persian paintings and sculptures. It is believed the myths found life around 3,000 B.C. to be the Pharoah's companion in Ancient Egypt, and later became sacred guardians in Minoa.
India was assigned as the native country of the Gryphon, and the people of that land made Gryphon talons and claws into drinking cups, they were of so great a size. Like the Unicorn and other species of myth, magickal traits were assigned to the talons. While the alicorn, or horn of the Unicorn, was said to be an aphrodisiac, the talon of a Gryphon was said to detect poison in a liquid when used as a drinking cup. Very handy for the nobility, as this was a common form of assassination.
They are found in Greek mythology, neighbors of the Hyperboreans and belonging to Zeus, they took gold from the stream Arimaspias, the one-eyed people of Scythia. It was written by Pomponius Mela, that a certain area was uninhabitable, "because the Griffons (a cruel and eager kind of wild beast) do wonderfully love the gold, which lies discovered above the ground, and do wonderfully keep it, and are very fierce upon them that touch it."
Gryphons have always been depicted as guardians of treasure. Gryphons themselves depict gold, as they represent the wealth of the sun at dawn, the gold in the east. They are also said to line their nests, called Eyries, with pure gold, woe be to the traveler looking to steal it.
Romans later used the Gryphon for decoration
In Christian times the Gryphon motif appears. In Christian symbolism, the Gryphon originally represented Satan and evil, but later came to represent Christ, especially his dual nature, both divine and earthly, as the Gryphon had mastery of both land and sky, and was noble and majestic. Gryphons were said to kill serpents and basilisks, both embodiments of evil, thus protecting mankind.
The griffin's dual nature led it to be associated with Jesus Christ, God and man, king of heaven and earth. The eagle half of the griffin signified Christ's divinity and the lion half represented His humanity. Because no one could block the path of a griffin, this creature was especially associated with that passage in the Gospel which records Christ's marvelous passage through the crowd at Nazareth who were determined to throw Him off a cliff. [Luke 4:28-30] During the Middle Ages, griffins were symbols of Christ's resurrection. The strength of the lion and the wisdom of the eagle combined in the griffin symbolized the strength and wisdom of God.
The logical difficulties of duality, led some people to see in the griffin the perversion of the strengths of both animals. Gevaert theorized that the combination of lion and eagle parts would more or less cripple the griffin, depriving him of the ability to fly unencumbered like the eagle or walk nobly like the lion. It was associated with those who used their powers to persecute the Christians, evil personified, the Antichrist, and the Devil. There was even an imaginary creature called the griffin-dragon who had the tail of a dragon or a snake. This one always represented evil.
Gryphons symbolize both strength and wisdom combined in heraldry. On medieval buildings, Gryphons were often used as gargoyles, great stone guardians. The Gryphon has relinquished most of these roles, and today appears mostly in literature and heraldry.
One legend involving griffins is the Ascension of Alexander the great. According to this story, Alexander captured a pair of griffins and, having starved them for three days, hitched them to his throne and, teasing them with chunks of roast beef held above their heads on lances, flew heavenward for seven days. Alexander would've stolen a peek at God Himself if an angel had not asked him why he wanted to see the things of heaven when he did not yet understand the things of earth. Chastised for his presumptuousness, Alexander flew back to earth. Representations of Alexander's ascension were placed in French and Italian cathedrals during the 12th century.
The griffin's ability to soar like an eagle made him an emblem of poetic and spiritual inspiration. The eagle parts of the griffin represented the saints with their thoughts, aspirations, and souls lifted towards God. Its lion half stood for their courage in the arena and in the continuing struggle against sin, evil, and the Devil. As emblems of the saints, griffins are sometimes pictured eating fruit picked from the Tree of Life. [see Rev 2:7]
During captivity, Israelites would have become familiar with the griffin image. Both Persians and Assyrians decorated with images of this magical beast. Images of two griffins drinking from a flaming cup were common in the Persian religion, Zorastrianism. Later, the Crusaders, coming across this image, would be reminded of the Eucharist and the cup of fire became associated with the Holy Grail.
During the Middle Ages, Christian nobles searched for griffin's eggs or "grypeseye" which they mounted and used for cups, believing they brought health to any beverage.
The world's only stuffed griffon is a fine specimen of the Hyperborean variety. The gryphon was shot down over Copenhagen by the Belgian Huntress Nadine Legrand. It is now preserved in a Danish Museum. Which is pictured below.
The gryphon's only known relative is the Hippogriff - the offspring of a horse and a griffon. Such unions are incredibly rare, since the relationship between the two species is usually one of predator and pray. Unlike griffins, hippogriffs could be tamed and used as aerial mounts, in which role they were immortalized in the Italian Renaissance poet Ariosto's famous saga, Orlando Furioso.
The Hippogriff is a winged horse with the head and claws of an eagle. (The head, wings and front legs of a griffin, and the back legs of a horse.) It is an elusive creature that can fly long distances at high altitudes. From the Riphaean mountains.
The hippogriff is know also by Simoorgh or Simurgh or Senmurv - the Persian version, sometimes featured as a cross between a dog or lion and a huge bird.
The meaning behind them is that Griffins and horses were supposed to be mortal enemies. The Hippogriff symbolizes an impossible thing. There is an old expression "Jungentur jam grypes equis" which means "To cross griffons with horses", indicating an impossible scenario.
The information collected on this page (and the photo) were found at the following places in cyberspace:
http://gryphonguild.org/mythology.html
http://www.online-mythology.com/griffin_gryphon/
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/4758/mythology.html
http://www.mythicalrealm.com/creatures/aerie2.html
http://www.thanasis.com/griffin.htm
