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Gryphon is a mythical beast that is usually described as half-eagle,
half-lion. The front part are eagle, plus two pointed ears, and the
hind part would be the lion part. But please don't get it wrong, a
Gryphon is NOT a hybrid of some sort. According to books that I've
read (yes, I did do a little reading on the subject...) Gryphon was
classified as a bird. It's a species that's unique, and entirely original.
There are many ways to spell Gryphon. The two most common spelling
would be Gryphon, and Griffin. I suppose Griffin is more common
than Gryphon, but I found that in internet Gryphon were used more
often (and that's why I'll be using Gryphon instead of Griffin).
So... anyway, let's continue.
This magnificent creatures make their first appearance around 3000 B.C.,
in Egypt and Mesopotamia. From then, they spread around the world,
and unfortunately, as their existence spread, their symbolic
meaning was also changed somewhere along the way.
A Gryphon can grow up to eight feet tall, even though usually an adult
Gryhpon was about six feet tall. And they do look very grand, strong,
and fierce. With this characteristics, Gryphon then become the symbol
of a guardian. A Gryphon would guard something that is sacred, or
precious, and it will punish those who try to steal or break the
sacredness of it.
In the beginning, Gryhpon had always been portrayed as the guardian
and the embodiment of what is good, of justice and of strength.
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It symbolised a guardian, its ears showing attention, its wings
swiftness, its lion-like shape courage and audacity, its hooked beak
hoarding and tenacity. (Cherry:1995:100)
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However, as time passed, people started to associate Gryphon with negatives meanings.
Gryphons, like many other birds, loves sparklies especially gold, and some
also said that they love jewels, especially emeralds. It was said
that Gryphons dug gold from the ground with their beak, and line
their nest with it. And then there's this people called
the Arimaspians, the one-eyed people who was always try to
steal Gryphon's 'sparklies'. Some also said that there are also
people who try to steal the Gryphlettes (baby gryphons).
So of course Gryphons hate this people and always at 'war' with them.
Early Christian who also adopted Gryphons, said that Gryphons symbolises
all things evil, especially greed since they love, collect, and fiercely
guard their gold. And then the Arimaspians were said to be the
'good' Christian, and the gold would be the 'faith' of the Christians.
That Gryphons were bad since they try to steal gold from Arimaspians.
....uh...hello?! Which one was actually the baddies? I honestly don't
understand this part... Other argument (forgot the name of the person)
said that it wasn't the Gryphon's fault that they love sparklies.
They're animals, for God's sake. Therefore, it was the humans who try
to have and steal the Gryphon's gold who were the greedy ones.
I found myself agreeing to the latter idea. And at the end, Gryphon
was, infact, being associated with Christ's Himself. Being an
embodiment of two noblest creatures on earth (eagles-king of sky and
lions-king of land), Gryphon then become symbol for Christ.
The eagle part would be his divinity in Heaven, and the lion part
would be his mortality as man on earth.
Nowadays, the myths of Gryphon has died, although the creature itself
still exist in the form of gargoyles on some old churces, some artefaks,
as well as company logos.
If you want to know more about Gryphon, a good website to visit would
be The Gryphon's Guild
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