The Griffon |
Restored griffin fresco in the "Throne Room", Palace of Knossos, Crete Battles between griffons and warriors in Scythian tunics and leggings were a theme for Greek vase-painters. Spiritual descendants of the one-eyed Arimaspi of Inner Asia may be found in the decorative borderlands of medieval maps and in the monstrous imagery of Hieronymus Bosch.  Hieronymus Bosch. Because the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts, and the eagle the king of 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 treasure and priceless possessions.  In Greek and Roman texts, griffins and Arimaspians were associated with gold deposits of Central Asia. Indeed, as Pliny the Elder wrote, "griffins were said to lay eggs in burrows on the ground and these nests contained gold nuggets."The Arimaspi were a legendary tribe of one-eyed people of northern Scythia who lived in the foothills of the Riphean Mountains. All tales of their struggles with the gold-guarding griffins in the Hyperborean lands near the cave of Boreas, the North Wind (Geskleithron), had their origin in a lost work by Aristeas, reported in Herodotus.  Fresco depicting a griffin attacking one of the Arimaspi (legendary Scythian), from the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, 1st century BC [The Pompeii cartoons...]"This Aristeas, possessed by Phoibos, visited the Issedones; beyond these (he said) live the one-eyed Arimaspoi, beyond whom are the Grypes that guard gold, and beyond these again the Hyperboreoi, whose territory reaches to the sea. Except for the Hyperboreoi, all these nations (and first the Arimaspoi) are always at war with their neighbors."Herodotus 4.13.1 
Herodotus "Father of History" [the fake authority...]
 Hyperborea...the Gerardus Mercator map of 1595.  Wind rose of ancient Greece   In the Aeneid by Virgil, Juno offers Aeolus the nymph Deiopea as a wife if he will release his winds upon the fleet of Aeneas, but Poseidon later calms the sea.  Vulturnus, the east windArimaspi and griffins remained stock images associated with the outlands of the north: the Aeschylan Prometheus Bound (ca 415 BC?), describing the wanderings of Io [Juno], notes that she is not to pass through the north, among the Arimaspi and griffins, but southward.  The struggle between the Arimaspi and the griffins has remarkable similarities to Homer's account of the Pygmaioi warring with cranes. The Pygmies were a tribe of diminutive humans in Greek mythology. According to the Iliad, they were involved in a constant war with the cranes, which migrated in winter to their homeland on the southern shores of the earth-encircling river Oceanus. One story describes the origin of the age-old battle, speaking of a Pygmy Queen named Gerana who offended the goddess Hera with her boasts of superior beauty, and was transformed into a crane.  The Stymphalian birds [Birds of Ares] are a group of voracious birds in Greek mythology. The birds' appellation is derived from their dwelling in a swamp in Stymphalia ( a town in the northeast of ancient Arcadia)... in Argonautica.  Heracles on the obverse and a Stymphalian bird The Stymphalian Birds are man-eating birds with beaks of bronze, sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims, and poisonous dung.  The Pets of Ares   Dionysus drives a chariot drawn by three beasts--a panther, bull and griffin. The god is crowned with a wreath of ivy and holds a thyrsos (pine-cone tipped staff) in one hand.  Apollo Riding Griffin Griffin: They pulled Apollo’s chariot and were possibly associated with wisdom. Apollo often also represented wisdom in the form of knowledge, which is also a characteristic of the griffin. 
Alexander the Great's flight to Heaven on a chariot pulled by two Griffins enticed by prey- at the north facade of San Marco Basilica,
 
Alexander the Great in his griffin-powered flying chariot, Roman d'Alexandre, 1444-1445
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 griffins to the edge of the sky.
Medieval tapestry, Basel, c. 1450
At first also 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 griffin thus also became the adversary of serpents and basilisks, both of which were seen as embodiments of satanic demons. For some Christ's Ascension came to be associated with the winged griffin.
Beatrice Addressing Dante, by William Blake, showing the "chariot triumphal" bearing Beatrice and drawn by the Griffin, as well as four of the ladies representing virtues, Canto 29.
Christ is a lion, because he has a governing ability and great strength; Christ is an eagle, because he can go to heaven after his resurrection.
Martin Schongauer: The griffin, 15th century
Behemoth (on earth), Ziz (in sky), and Leviathan (under sea)
The Ziz (Hebrew: זיז) is a giant griffin-like bird in Jewish mythology, said to be large enough to be able to block out the sun with its wingspan.
 ...is a mythical beverage that whoever "drinks becomes a skald or scholar" to recite any information and solve any question.   Printer’s Mark of Sébastien Gryphe Egyptian winged sphinx  Statue of mythical winged Griffin outside the entrance to the Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas  Gryphon statues mark the entrance to the City of London. 
Ninurta with his thunderbolts pursues Anzû stealing the Tablet of Destiniesfrom Enlil's sanctuary (Austen Henry Layard Monuments of Nineveh, 2nd Series, 1853)
Anzû is a lesser divinity or monster in several Mesopotamian religions. He was conceived by the pure waters of the Apsu and the wide Earth, or as son of Siris.Anzû was depicted as a massive bird who can breathe fire and water, although Anzû is alternately depicted as a lion-headed eagle. In texts of the Old Babylonian period, the name is more often found as 𒀭𒉎𒂂𒄷 AN.IM.DUGUDMUŠEN Cuneiform or Sumerian cuneiform, one of the earliest systems of writing, was invented by the Sumerians.  The Mesopotamian goddess Siris was the patron of beer who is conceived of as a demon, which is not necessarily evil. She is said to be the daughter of the goddess Ninkasi. 
Her father was the King of Uruk, and her mother was the high priestess of the temple of Inanna, the goddess of procreation. She is also one of the eight children created in order to heal one of the eight wounds that Enki receives. Furthermore, she is the goddess of alcohol. She was also borne of "sparkling fresh water". She is the goddess made to "satisfy the desire" and "sate the heart." She would prepare the beverage daily.
 
Ninkasi Tablets
Hymn to Ninkasi The poem from Circa 1800 BC explains that grain was converted into bappir bread before fermentation, and grapes as well as honey were added to the mix.  Lion of Venice, Venice  The Golden Lion (Leone d'Oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. |
Cassiopeia Cassiopeia The constellation is named after Cassiopeia, the queen of Aethiopia . Cassiopeia was the wife of King Cepheus of Aethiopia and mother of Princess Andromeda . Cepheus and Cassiopeia were placed next to each other among the stars, along with Andromeda. She was placed in the sky as a punishment after enraging Poseidon with the boast that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids or, alternatively, that she herself was more beautiful than the sea nymphs. She was forced to wheel around the North Celestial Pole on her throne, spending half of her time clinging to it so she does not fall off, and Poseidon decreed that Andromeda should be bound to a rock as prey for the monster Cetus . Andromeda was then rescued by the hero Perseus , whom she later married. Cassiopeia in her chair, as depicted in Urania's Mirror Hyginus Cassiopeia It was Poseidon who placed Cassiopei...
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