|
GRIFFIN OR GRYPHON
King of Heaven & Earth
Excerpted from Suzetta
Tucker's
The Bestiary
The griffin
is a mythical creature with the face, beak, talons and wings of an eagle
and the body of a lion. 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. Pliny believed griffins came from
Northern Russia; Aeschylus thought they originated in Ethiopia; and
Bulfinch wrote that their native country was India. 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.
In
symbolism, the griffin combines the symbolic qualities of both 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.
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. Because no
one could block the path of a griffin, this creature was especially
associated with that passage in the Gospel which records Christ's
marvelous passage through the crowd at Nazareth who were determined to
throw Him off a cliff. [Luke 4:28-30] 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.
The logical
difficulties of duality, 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.
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've 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.
The
griffin's ability to soar like an eagle made him an emblem of poetic and
spiritual inspiration. The eagle parts of the griffin represented the
saints with their thoughts, aspirations, and souls lifted towards God.
Its lion half stood for their courage in the arena and in the continuing
struggle against sin, evil, and the Devil. As emblems of the saints,
griffins are sometimes pictured eating fruit picked from the Tree of
Life. [see Rev 2:7]
During
captivity, Israelites would have become familiar with the griffin image.
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. Later, the Crusaders, coming across
this image, would be reminded of the Eucharist and the cup of fire
became associated with the Holy Grail.
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..
Because of
the griffin's strength and powers of sight, it was believed to guard
hidden treasures and hide them in their nests with their young. Because
of its association with the Holy Grail, one of the treasures most
commonly guarded by griffins was emeralds. (The Holy Grail was carved
from a single emerald. It was used to hold the wine at the Last Supper
and believed to have magical powers.) 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.
Griffins are
a symbol of the sun, wisdom, vengeance, strength, and salvation.
Unless
otherwise stated, all scripture quotes are from the NKJV Bible.
© 1997 by Suzetta Tucker
Check out my Collection of Griffin Image
Files from all over the web here.
|
