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Mythology in the Church
Symbol of the Gryphon
Image Source:
vampirerave.com
Gryphons have a long history going back to ancient times where they were
believed to have pulled the chariots of gods such as Apollo, Nemesis, and even
Zeus, the respected king of the gods.
They are depicted as been large majestic flying creates with attributes of both
the Eagle, and the Lion each monarchs of their own contrary worlds, combine to
create the noblest creature of them all.
A 9th-century Irish writer by the name of Stephen Scotus asserted that griffins
were strictly monogamous. Not only did they mate for life, but if one partner
died, the other would continue throughout the rest of its life alone, never to
search for a new mate.
The griffin was thus made an emblem of the Church's views on remarriage which was considered a sin.
This alone however didn't assert these creatures as a Symbol to the Church, but their dual nature instead.
Almost everything a Gryphon did and represented is in twos or opposites;
Good and Evil, Fearsome and Gentle, Wild and Tamed, and many more natures besides.
Over time when people began to look at what they had been saying about these creatures that they realised what the two separate animals stood for - The earthly strength of the lion, and the ascendant splendor of the eagle and realised how much they symbolized the earthly and divine natures of Christ.
During the Middle Ages they were often associated with the resurrection of
Christ.
They have also been depicted with a number of legends and stories over hundreds of years including that of Alexander the great, and the Holy Grail as well as relations to items where they would be their protector, of Gold and Tombs in particular.
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Alexander The Great
One legend involving griffins is the Ascension of Alexander the great.
According to the story, Alexander captured a pair of griffins and having
starved them for three days managed to hitch ("tie") them to his throne and by
teasing them with chunks of roast beef held above their heads on lances, flew
heavenward for seven days.
Alexander would have 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 by the Angel, Alexander flew back to earth.
Representations of Alexander's ascension were placed in French and Italian
cathedrals during the 12th century, although today we mostly see statues of him
riding a Horse. |
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The Holy Grail
Gryphons themselves are not directly associated with the Holy Grail, but rather
the Cup of Fire and Emeralds.
In Ancient Persia (Southern Iran) large numbers of Pottery and Carpets even were
decorated with the image of a Gryphon, the most common was depicting two
Gryphons drinking from a flaming cup.
Later Crusaders who came across the image of the Gryphons and the Cup associated
it with receiving the Eucharist - a Christian ritual of eating a piece of bread
and drinking wine from a cup for remembrance of Christ's last meal before he was
turned over to the executioners.
It was a myth that gryphons would guard hidden treasures in their
nests with their young - most commonly emeralds..
The Holy Grail was believed to have been craved from a single Emerald and was
used to hold the Wine during the Eucharist ritual. Thus with the myth of
Gryphons been treasure guards, and been associated with the Fire Cup they were
later viewed to be associated with the Grail itself. |
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© Therian
If anyone is interested in learning more about Gryphons then I highly advise the
site, http://www.gryphonpages.com
(external link), a site by James Spaid, which has an extensive amount of information in regards to Gryphons, their relatives and information in regards to a series of books, or online short stories depicting the Mythical Gryphon. |
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