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Griffin fresco in the "Throne Room", Palace of
Knossos,
Crete,
Bronze Age
Statue of a griffin at
St Mark's Basilica in
Venice.
For other uses, see
Griffin (disambiguation).
The
griffin,
griffon, or
gryphon (
Greek: γρύφων,
grýphōn, or γρύπων,
grýpōn;
Latin:
gryphus) is a
legendary creature with the body of a
lionand the head and wings of an eagle. As the lion was traditionally
considered the king of the beasts and the eagle was the king of the
birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and
majestic creature, though some
[who?] believe the griffin was the ancient misconception of a
Protoceratops[citation needed]. Griffins are normally known for guarding treasure and well valued priceless possession.
[1] In antiquity it was a
symbol of
divine power and a guardian of the divine.
[2]Most statues have
talons,
although in some older illustrations it has a lion's forelimbs; it
generally has 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 earliest depiction of griffins are the
15th century BC frescoes in the Throne Room of the
Bronze Age Palace of
Knossos, as restored by Sir
Arthur Evans. It continued being a favored decorative theme in Archaic and Classical Greek art. In
Central Asia the griffin appears about a thousand years after Bronze Age Crete, in the
5th-
4th century BC, probably originating from the
Achaemenid Persian Empire. The Achaemenids considered the griffin "a protector from evil, witchcraft and secret slander".
[3] The modern generalist calls it the lion-griffin, as for example,
Robin Lane Fox, in
Alexander the Great, 1973:31 and notes p. 506, who remarks a lion-griffin attacking a stag in a pebble mosaic
Dartmouth College expedition at
Pella, perhaps as an emblem of the kingdom of Macedon or a personal one of Alexander's successor
Antipater.
Infrequently, a griffin is portrayed without wings, or a wingless
eagle-headed lion is identified as a griffin; in 15th-century and later
heraldry such a beast may be called an
alce or a
keythong.In heraldry, a griffin always has forelegs like an eagle's; the beast
with forelimbs like a lion's forelegs was distinguished by perhaps only
one English herald of later heraldry as the
opinicus.//
[edit] Medieval lore
Griffin rampant wearing the
mural crown of
PerugiaA 9th-century Irish writer by the name of Stephen Scotus asserted that griffins were strictly
monogamous.
[citation needed]They not only mated for life, but also, if either partner died, then
the other would continue throughout the rest of its life alone, never
to search for a new mate. The griffin was thus made an emblem of the
Church's views on
remarriage.
Being a union of a terrestrial beast and an aerial bird, it was seen in
Christendom to be a symbol of
Jesus, who was both human and divine. As such it can be found sculpted on churches.
[1]According to Stephen Friar, a griffin's claw was believed to have
medicinal properties and one of its feathers could restore
sight to the
blind.
[1] Goblets fashioned from griffin claws (actually
antelope horns) and griffin eggs (actually ostrich eggs) were highly prized in medieval European courts.
[4]When it emerged as a major
seafaring power in the
Middle Ages and
Renaissance, griffins commenced to be depicted as part of the
Republic of Genoa's coat of arms, rearing at the sides of the shield bearing the
Cross of St. George.
By the 12th century the appearance of the griffin was substantially
fixed: "All its bodily members are like a lion's, but its wings and
mask are like an eagle's."
[5]It is not yet clear if its forelimbs are those of an eagle or of a
lion. Although the description implies the latter, the accompanying
illustration is ambiguous. It was left to the heralds to clarify that.
[edit] Heraldic significance
Bevan family crest
In heraldry, the griffin's amalgamation of lion and eagle gains in
courage and boldness, and it is always drawn to powerful fierce
monsters. It is used to denote strength and military courage and
leadership. Griffins are portrayed 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.
[6]In British heraldry, a male griffin is shown with wings, its body
covered in tufts of formidable spikes. The male griffin is more usually
shown, as in the Bevan family crest.
[7]The surname Agius has a coat of arms which is a griffin.
[citation needed][edit] In architecture
Heraldic guardian griffin at
Kasteel de Haar, Netherlands
In
architectural decoration the griffin is usually represented as a four-footed beast with wings and the head of a
leopard or
tiger with
horns, or with the head and beak of an eagle.
[citation needed]Gryphon statues mark the entrance to the City of London.
[edit] In literatureFor fictional characters named Griffin, see Griffin (surname)Flavius Philostratus mentioned them in
The Life of Apollonius of Tyana:
| “ | As to the gold which the
griffins dig up, there are rocks which are spotted with drops of gold
as with sparks, which this creature can quarry because of the strength
of its beak. “For these animals do exist in India” he said, “and are
held in veneration as being sacred to the Sun ; and the Indian artists,
when they represent the Sun, yoke four of them abreast to draw the
images ; and in size and strength they resemble lions, but having this
advantage over them that they have wings, they will attack them, and
they get the better of elephants and of dragons. But they have no great
power of flying, not more than have birds of short flight; for they are
not winged as is proper with birds, but the palms of their feet are
webbed with red membranes, such that they are able to revolve them, and
make a flight and fight in the air; and the tiger alone is beyond their
powers of attack, because in swiftness it rivals the winds.[8] | ” |
| “ | And the griffins of the
Indians and the ants of the Ethiopians, though they are dissimilar in
form, yet, from what we hear, play similar parts; for in each country
they are, according to the tales of poets, the guardians of gold, and
devoted to the gold reefs of the two countries.[9] | ” |
Griffins are used widely in
Persian poetry;
Rumi is one such poet who writes in reference to griffins.
[10]In
Dante Alighieri's
Divine Comedy,
Beatrice meets Dante in Earthly Paradise after his journey through Hell
and Purgatory with Virgil have concluded. Beatrice takes off into the
Heavens to begin Dante's journey through paradise on a flying Griffin
that moves as fast as lightning. The griffin itself represents the dual
nature of Christ's humanity and divinity due to the fact that the being
is a mystical hybrid in mythology.
[citation needed]Sir John Mandeville wrote about them is his 14th century book of travels:
| “ | In that country be many
griffins, more plenty than in any other country. Some men say that they
have the body upward as an eagle and beneath as a lion; and truly they
say sooth, that they be of that shape. But one griffin hath the body
more great and is more strong than eight lions, of such lions as be on
this half, and more great and stronger than an hundred eagles such as
we have amongst us. For one griffin there will bear, flying to his
nest, a great horse, if he may find him at the point, or two oxen yoked
together as they go at the plough. For he hath his talons so long and
so large and great upon his feet, as though they were horns of great
oxen or of bugles or of kine, so that men make cups of them to drink
of. And of their ribs and of the pens of their wings, men make bows,
full strong, to shoot with arrows and quarrels.[11] | ” |
Griffin misericord, Ripon Cathedral, alleged inspiration for
The Gryphon in
Lewis Carroll’s
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.John Milton, in Book II of
Paradise Lost, refers to the legend of the griffin in describing
Satan:
| “ | As when a Gryfon through the Wilderness
With winged course ore Hill or moarie Dale,
Pursues the ARIMASPIAN, who by stelth
Had from his wakeful custody purloind
The guarded Gold [...]
| ” |
[edit] Modern uses
A modernist, Egyptianized guardian griffin by
Edmond Amateis (1936),
Washington, D.C.
Flag of the
Utti Jaeger Regiment of the Finnish Army
The griffin is the symbol of the
Philadelphia Museum of Art;
bronze castings of them perched on each corner of the
museum's roof, protecting its collection.
[12][13]The griffin is the logo of
Vauxhall Motors, and prior to the mid-1990s a griffin formed part of the logo of
Midland Bank (now
HSBC). The griffin is also the logo of
Scania (company) and its former group partners
SAAB-Aircraft and
Saab Automobile.
[edit] School emblems and mascotsThe griffin is the mascot of
The Cambridge School of Weston, a coeducational private day and boarding school located in
Weston, Massachusetts. The mascot is also the name of the school publication: "The Gryphon."
The griffin is the mascot of
Rocky Mount High School located in
Rocky Mount,
North Carolina. During the era of
segregation, Rocky Mount High School was an all-white school while African Americans attended
Booker T. WashingtonHigh School. In 1969, the two schools merged when segregation ended.
During that time, the mascot of Rocky Mount High School was the
blackbird, and the lion was the mascot of Booker T. Washington. In an
attempt to create a new mascot for the newly merged school and at the
same time maintaining the history of the two schools, the griffin, or
"gryphon" as it is then spelled, mostly became the obvious choice.
The griffin is part of the coat of arms of
Raffles Institution, the oldest school in
Singapore.
Combined with the strength of the double-headed eagle, it represents
power, strength, supremacy, dignity and majesty for the school.
[14]The griffin is the mascot of
Missouri Western State University in
Saint Joseph, Missouri. It was chosen in 1918 as the mascot of Saint Joseph Junior College, the institution which later became
Missouri Western State University.
The griffin was selected because it was considered a guardian of
riches, and education is viewed as a precious treasure. Similarly,
originating from founder
Simeon Reed's family coat of arms, the griffin became the unofficial mascot of
Reed College, in
Portland, Oregon as the "protector of "man and beasts" and as the enemy of ignorance".
[15]Mount Holyoke College in
South Hadley,
Massachusettsuses four animals and colors to represent the four class years. One of
these is the green griffin, representing one of the odd graduating
years. It was selected as one of the four class animals in 1909.
[16]The
College of William and Mary in Virginia changed its mascot to the griffin in April 2010.
[17][18] The griffin was chosen because it is the combination of the British lion and the American eagle.
After many years of not having an official mascot,
Sarah Lawrence College has dubbed all of its teams "The Gryphons."
[edit] In natural historySome large species of
Old World vultures are called gryphons, including the
Griffon Vulture (
Gyps fulvus), as are
some breeds of
dog (griffons).
The scientific species name for the
Andean Condor is
Vultur gryphus; Latin for "griffin-vulture".
[edit] As a first name and surnameMain article:
Griffin (surname)
- "Griffin" occurs as a surname in English-speaking
countries. Variations of the surname "Griffin" are present throughout
most of Europe and even parts of Western Asia. It has its origins as an
anglicised form of the Irish "Ó Gríobhtha", "O' Griffin", and "Ó Griffey".[citation needed]
- "Griffin" (and variants in other languages) may also have been
adopted as a surname by other families who used arms charged with a
griffin or a griffin's head (just as the House of Plantagenet took its name from the badge of a sprig of broom or planta genista). This is ostensibly the origin of the Swedish surname "Grip".[citation needed]
- In the mid-1990s, "Griffin" steadily became more popular as a baby
name for boys in the U.S. In 1990, it was ranked 629th. In 2006, it was
ranked 254th. Also rising in popularity is the various other spellings
of the name such as Griffen or Gryphon.[citation needed]
Tue Mar 12, 2013 6:21 am by mianmani
Subject: Griffin 
