Griffin

The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: γρύψ, romanized: grýps; Classical Latin: gryps or grypus; Late and Medieval Latin: 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. In Greek and Roman texts, griffins and Arimaspians were associated with the gold deposits of Central Asia. The earliest classical writings on the topic were derived from Aristeas (7th century BC) and preserved by Herodotus and Aeschylus (mid 5th century BC).

Overview

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 the Greek and Roman texts, the griffins and the Arimaspians were associated with gold deposits of Central Asia. The earliest classical writings were derived from Aristeas (7th cent. BC) and preserved by Herodotus and Aeschylus (mid 5th century BC), but the physical descriptions are not very explicit and from Herodotus to Aelian imply that griffins were creatures seen and known through artworks. 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 state explicitly that griffins were winged and long eared. But Apollonius of Tyana wrote that griffins did not have true bird wings, but membranous webbed feet that only gave them the capability of short-distanced flight. Writers after Aelian (3rd century AD) did not add much new material to griffin lore, except for the later idea 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 developed from the tradition that horseback-riding Arimaspians raided the griffin gold.

Nomenclature

Etymology

The derivation of this word remains uncertain. It could be related to the Greek word γρυπός (grypos), meaning 'curved', or 'hooked'. Greek γρύφ (gryph) from γρύφ 'hook-nosed' is suggested. It could also have been an Anatolian loan word derived from a Semitic language; compare the Hebrew כרוב kərúv.

Persian names

In the modern Persian language, the griffin has come to be called šērdāl (Persian: شیردال), meaning 'lion-eagle'. However, the practice of referring to ancient Iranian griffin objects or monuments as sherdal, 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 Boris A. Litvinskij 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.

Egyptian names The griffin was given names which were descriptive epithets, such as tštš or tesh-tesh meaning "Tearer[-in-pieces]" inscribed on a griffin image found in a tomb at Deir El Bersha; and sfr/srf "fiery one", attested at Beni Hasan (compare Hebrew saráf). The descriptive epithet "Tearer" is not uniquely applied to the griffin beast, and tštš (Teš-teš) has also been used to denote the god Osiris elsewhere.

Form

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.

Cauldron figurines 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.

Tendrils

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 Barberini tomb, 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.

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