| Griffin | |
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Real Name |
Griffin, Griffon, or Gryphon |
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First Appearance |
European/Middle Eastern Myth |
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Created by |
European/Middle Eastern Myth |
Origin[]
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Martin Schongauer: The griffin, 15th century
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon 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.
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 Greek and Roman texts, griffins and Arimaspians were associated with gold deposits of Central Asia. The earliest classical writings derive from Aristeas (7th cent. BC), preserved by Herodotus and Aeschylus (mid 5th century BC), but the physical descriptions are not very explicit. Thus even though they are sharp-beaked, their being likened to "unbarking hounds of Zeus" has led to the speculation they were seen as wingless.
The griffin was linked to Apollo, given the existence of the cultus of Hyperborean Apollo, with a cult center at the Greek colony of Olbia on the Black Sea. And even the main Temple of Apollo at Delphi featured a statue of the god flanked by griffins, or so it can be presumed based on the representation struck on the tetradrachm coinage of Attica. Apollo rode a griffin to Hyperboria each winter, leaving Delphi, or so it was believed. Apollo riding griffin is known from multiple examples of red-figure pottery. And Apollo hitched griffins to his chariot according to Claudian.
Dionysus was also depicted on a griffin-chariot or mounting griffin; the motif was borrowed from the god Apollo due to "syncretism between the two gods".
In medieval legend, griffins not only mated for life, but if either partner died, then the other would continue the rest of its life alone, never to search for a new mate. The griffin was thus made an emblem of the Church's opposition to remarriage.
Variants of the griffin include the Hippogriff, wingless griffin (alke, a keythong or a male griffin), sea-griffinn/gryphon-marine, and the Opinicus/Epimacus.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Griffins from before Janurary 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances include:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- The Divine Comedy
- Paradise Lost
- Alice in Wonderland
- The Marvelous Land of Oz
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Nyoka the Jungle Girl (Fawcett) #75: In The Sinister Jungle Myth: Chapter One: The Griffin: Real or Fable, Nyoka meets with an artist named Pierre Pastel who claims to have seen a griffin while painting in the jungle. They go back to the jungle to investigate only for a griffin to fly off with Pierre. Nyoka pursues the beast in her vehicle only to have a second griffin grab her as well while still in the automobile. She escapes the monster by jumping into the river below and then continues to follow the beast to their lair. Once at the griffin's lair, She saves Pierre and a hunter named Degreey by causing a rock slide with her firearm to trap the griffins below the rubble
- Nyoka the Jungle Girl (Charlton) #14: Reprints the story from issue #75 originally published by Fawcett.
Public Domain Comic Appearances Inspired by Griffins[]
- Top Notch Comics #7:Galahad goes to find the missing Sir Gawain at King Arthur's request. He discovers that the Knight of the Griffin had been holding him captive and goes to confront him. Galahad encounters a woman on his way to battle the Knight of the Griffin who ask him to fetch her a cup of water. She is actually Lady Morgana, the wife of the Knight of the Griffin, and she switched out Galahad's sword for a broken one while he was distracted. He then encountered Merlin who he saved from some thugs. Galahad battles the Knight of the Griffin and with Merlin's help slays his enemy.
Notes[]
- Adrienne Mayor, a classical folklorist and historian of science, has speculated that the way the Greeks imagined griffins from the seventh century BC onwards may have been influenced in part by the fossilized remains of beaked dinosaurs such as Protoceratops and Psittacosaurus observed on the way to gold deposits by nomadic prospectors of ancient Scythia (Central Asia).