The griffin or gryphon is a mythical quadruped with the foreparts of an eagle and the rear, tail and hindquarters of a lion. Its eagle-like head had pointed, upstanding ears like those of an ass. Feathers grew upon its head, neck and chest and the rest of the griffin's body was covered in leonine fur, subtly colored in shades of tawny brown. Aelian said the wings of griffins were white and their necks were variegated in colour with blue feathers. The griffin claws were especially valuable as they were reputed to change color in the presence of poison, which is why they made useful drinking vessels. At times, it is portrayed with a long snake-like tail. In some traditions, only the female has wings. Its nests are made of gold and its eggs resemble agates. It is supposed to be of gigantic proportions, the morphology being left to our own deduction after we have been informed that one claw is the size of a cow's horn.
There are a number of different types of griffins:
the snake-griffin has a lion's body, a snake's head and a bird's legs;
the lion-griffin is lion-like but has hind legs shaped like those of a bird.
The hippogryph, living far beyond the seas in the Rhiphaean Mountains, is the result of the rare breeding of a male gryphon and a filly. It has the head, wings and front legs of a gryphon, and the back and hind legs of a horse. It is a large powerful creature that can move through the air more swiftly than ligthning. It figured in several of the legends of Charlemagne as a mount for some of the knights. The Hypogriffin is a mix of a griffin and a horse.
Origin
The Griffin was known in Egypt before 3300 BC and is possibly more ancient still.
Pliny believed griffins came from Northern Russia; Aeschylus thought they originated in Ethiopia; and Bulfinch wrote that their native country was India. Herodotus said that legends of griffins came from the Issedonians who lived beyond the Oural Mountains. Biedermann wrote later that it has typological antecedents in ancient Asia, especially in the Assyrian k'rub, which is also the source of the Hebrew cherub.
Role
Because of the griffin's strength and powers of sight, it was believed to guard hidden treasures and in particular the vast gold mines of India and Scythia. The Arimaspians, a bold, one-eyed race of humans, constantly tried to steal their treasure and eventually drove the griffins away the mountains. Because of its association with the Holy Grail, one of the treasures most commonly guarded by griffins was emeralds. Other popular treasures guarded by griffins were the Tree of Life, knowledge, and the roads to salvation. Greeks and Romans used griffin images to guard tombs.
The griffin also became the adversary of serpents and basilisks, both of which were seen as embodiments of satanic demons.
Powers
In its body, the griffin is blessed with the speed, flight, and penetrating vision of the eagle and the strength, courage, and majesty of the lion.
Symbol
In symbolism, the griffin combines the symbolic qualities of two solar creatures, the lion and the eagle. It is the king of birds and lord of the air united with the king of beasts and lord of the earth. Griffins are a symbol of the sun, wisdom, vengeance, strength, and salvation.
The griffin's ability to soar like an eagle made him an emblem of poetic and spiritual inspiration. The griffin was also an embodiment of Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance and retribution, and turned her wheel of fortune.
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. 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.
Nevertheless, the ambivalence of his nature, 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.
The creature appeared as frequently in the applied arts (tapestries, the work of goldsmiths) as in heraldry. In the latter domain, Boeckler (1688) offered the following interpretation: "Griffins are protrayed with a lion's body, an eagle's head, long ears, and an eagle's claws, to indicate that one must combine intelligence and strength."
Stories
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.
Apollo rode a griffin and according to greeks, griffins guarded the gold of the Hyperboreans in Scythia.
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 have 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.
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.
