University of Guelph

What is a Gryphon?

 

 

 

 

The Gryphon is a fabulous animal, symbolically significant for its domination of both the earth and the sky; because of its lion's body and eagle's head and wings.

It has typological antecedents in ancient Asia, especially in the Assyrian k'rub, which is also the source of the Hebrew cherub. The frequent representations of gryphon-like creatures in Persian art made them symbolize ancient Persia for the Jews. In Greece, the gryphon was a symbol of vigilant strength; Apollo rode one, and gryphons guarded the gold of the Hyperboreans of the far north. The gryphon was also an embodiment of Nemesis, the goddess of retribution, and turned her wheel of fortune. In legend the creature was a symbol of superbia (arrogant pride), because Alexander the Great was said to have tried to fly on the backs of gryphons to the edge of the sky. At first it was portrayed as a satanic figure entrapping human souls, the creature later became (from Dante onward) a symbol of the dual nature (divine and human) of Jesus Christ, precisely because of its mastery of earth and sky.

The solar associations of both the lion and the eagle favored this positive reading. The gryphon thus, became the adversary of serpents and basilisks, both of which were seen as embodiments of satanic demons. Even Christ's Ascension came to be associated with the gryphon. The creature appeared as frequently in the applied arts (tapestries, the work of goldsmiths) as in heraldry. It is the emblem of the hero. This was partially due to the gryphons' duel nature. As Sir Thomas Browne said "[The Gryphon is] an Emblem of valour and magnanimity, as being compounded of the Eagle and the Lion, the noblest Animals in their kinds... ". In the latter domain, Boeckler (1688) offered the following interpretation: " Gryphons 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. " The Gryphon also represents speed and majesty.