Mythical creatures

Griffin: Herodotus's Gold-Guardian, Pliny's Real Animal, and the Fossil Hypothesis

Pliny the Elder believed griffins were real. Adrienne Mayor thinks she may know why: Protoceratops skulls eroding from gold-bearing rock in Central Asia.

Engraving of a griffin by Martin Schongauer, circa 1495, showing the eagle-headed, lion-bodied composite creature.
A griffin by Martin Schongauer (c. 1495). Herodotus (Histories 4.13, 4.27) describes griffins guarding gold in the north, citing Aristeas of Proconnesus as his source. Adrienne Mayor's The First Fossil Hunters (Princeton, 2000) proposes that Protoceratops and Psittacosaurus fossils in gold-bearing Central Asian terrain may underlie the Scythian reports that reached Greek geographers. Martin Schongauer (c. 1448–1491), The Griffin (c. 1495). Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The griffin (Greek grups) is documented from Herodotus (4.13, 4.27; 5th century BCE), who reports it guarding gold in the north against the one-eyed Arimaspi. Pliny the Elder (Natural History 7.2) treats it as a real zoological animal. The Physiologus (c. 2nd century CE) established the griffin as a Christ-figure in medieval Christian typology. Adrienne Mayor's The First Fossil Hunters (Princeton, 2000) proposes that Protoceratops fossil discoveries in the gold-bearing Altai region may underlie the Greek literary tradition.

Most mythological animals are easy to dismiss as pure invention. The griffin is harder. Pliny the Elder, one of the most systematic natural historians of the ancient world, treated it as a real animal. The Minoan throne room at Knossos had griffin frescoes 3,500 years ago. Adrienne Mayor spent years examining the fossil record of Central Asia to produce a credible hypothesis for why specific people in specific places reported specific things about a creature that looks like an eagle-lion hybrid. This is a more interesting story than "the ancient world had good imaginations."

Herodotus: griffins and Scythian gold

Herodotus (c. 484–425 BCE) is the first Greek historian to describe griffins in any detail. In the Histories Book 4, describing the peoples beyond Scythia, he reports a tradition going back to Aristeas of Proconnesus (c. 7th century BCE): one-eyed men called the Arimaspi live in the far north and steal gold from griffins. Herodotus is careful to note that he personally does not vouch for this; he reports what the sources say. But the gold-and-griffins association is specific enough that it represents a piece of geographic knowledge circulating in the Greek world with some consistency.

Adrienne Mayor's fossil hypothesis

Mayor's The First Fossil Hunters (Princeton University Press, 2000) is the most rigorous examination of the relationship between fossil discoveries and mythological animals in the ancient world. Her specific argument for the griffin: the Altai Mountain region of Central Asia, the northernmost gold-bearing region accessible to Scythian nomads, is also one of the richest repositories of Protoceratops and Psittacosaurus fossils in the world. Protoceratops was a sheep-sized ceratopsid dinosaur with a pronounced beak, four legs, and a prominent frill. Its fossil skulls, eroding from gold-bearing rock strata, present a shape that a 5th-century BCE Greek listener to a Scythian description might plausibly reconstruct as a four-legged creature with an eagle's beak and prominent wing-nubs (the frill). Mayor is careful to note this is a hypothesis, not a proof; but she marshals significant geographic and morphological evidence.

Pliny and natural history

Pliny the Elder's Natural History (77 CE) treats the griffin in two passages. In Book 7.2, describing the peoples of the north, he includes griffins among the inhabitants of remote regions. In Book 10.70, he describes it as a wild beast with wings and eagle's beak. Pliny draws on older Greek sources and does not distinguish between what he has personally verified and what he has inherited from the tradition. For Pliny, the griffin occupies the same category as other animals he has not personally observed but for which he has reliable-seeming sources. His Natural History is itself a primary source for what educated Romans believed about the natural world.

The Physiologus and the Christ-griffin

The Physiologus (c. 2nd century CE, probably Alexandria) is the foundational text of the medieval bestiary tradition. Its griffin entry establishes an allegorical reading that became standard in Christian art: the griffin combines eagle (heavenly nature) and lion (earthly nature), as Christ combines divine and human natures. Michael Curley's translation (University of Chicago Press, 2009) is the standard English edition. The Christ-griffin reading persisted through the entire medieval period; Dante uses the griffin in this allegorical sense in the Purgatorio (Canto 29). The creature that Herodotus reported as guarding Scythian gold became, within six centuries, a theological figure of the Incarnation.

Frequently asked

What is a griffin?
The griffin (Greek grups; Latin gryphus) is a composite creature — eagle head and wings, lion body — that appears in Greek literature from at least the 5th century BCE. Herodotus (4.13, 4.27) describes griffins guarding gold in the north, citing Aristeas of Proconnesus. Pliny the Elder (Natural History 7.2 and 10.70) treats it as a real animal. The Physiologus (c. 2nd century CE) established its medieval Christian allegorical meaning as a figure of Christ (combining bird/divine nature and lion/earthly nature). The griffin thus moves from classical geographic mythology through natural history to Christian allegory within roughly 600 years.
Did griffins really guard gold?
Herodotus (4.27) reports that the Arimaspi, a one-eyed people of the north, stole gold from griffins. Adrienne Mayor's The First Fossil Hunters (Princeton, 2000) proposes a fossil-based explanation: the gold-bearing regions of Central Asia (the Altai Mountains and surrounding areas) are rich in Protoceratops and Psittacosaurus fossils. These ceratopsid dinosaur skulls, with their prominent beak and four-legged stance, bear a suggestive resemblance to the described griffin. Scythian nomads who traversed these regions may have reported fossil skulls embedded in gold-bearing rock formations to Greeks, who elaborated them into the griffin tradition.
What does the griffin mean in medieval heraldry?
The griffin became one of the most common heraldic beasts in medieval European tradition after the Physiologus established its Christ-typology. A griffin represented the combination of the highest qualities of the two noblest animals (eagle and lion) and thus the ideal knight or lord. A male griffin (without wings) was distinguished as an 'alce' in heraldic terminology. The combination of aerial perspective (eagle) and terrestrial power (lion) made it a natural symbol for rulers who claimed both spiritual and worldly dominion.
Are there griffins outside the classical tradition?
Yes. Griffin-composite creatures (eagle-lion or eagle-quadruped hybrids) appear in ancient Near Eastern art from Mesopotamia and Egypt independently of the Greek tradition. The Minoan palace at Knossos (c. 1500 BCE) features griffin frescoes in the throne room. These may represent an older pan-Mediterranean composite-creature tradition that the Greek griffin elaborated, or they may be independent developments. Adrienne Mayor's work examines both the Greek literary tradition and the possible underlying fossil or zoological bases.

Sources

  1. PRIMARYHerodotus, Histories 4.13, 4.27 — Loeb Classical Library. The first detailed Greek literary description of the griffin (grups): it guards gold in the north, in the territory of the Arimaspi. Herodotus cites Aristeas of Proconnesus as his source.
  2. PRIMARYAeschylus, Prometheus Bound (lines 803–806) — Loeb. The sharp-beaked hounds of Zeus (kunes akrageis Dios) who do not bark — often read as griffin-adjacent creatures guarding the Arimaspians' gold.
  3. PRIMARYPliny the Elder, Natural History 7.2 and 10.70 — Loeb. Pliny treats the griffin as a real animal: 'griffins, a kind of wild beast with wings, as is commonly reported, having a beak like an eagle, and great strength in their talons.'
  4. PRIMARYPhysiologus (Early Christian bestiary, c. 2nd century CE) — Trans. Michael Curley, University of Chicago Press, 2009. The Physiologus entry on the griffin establishes its medieval allegorical reading as a figure of Christ (combining earthly and divine natures).
  5. PEER-REVIEWEDAdrienne Mayor, The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times — Princeton University Press, 2000. Mayor's argument that Scythian-reported griffin descriptions may derive from Protoceratops fossil discoveries in Central Asian gold-bearing regions.
  6. PEER-REVIEWEDDaniel Ogden, Dragons, Serpents, and Slayers in the Classical and Early Christian Worlds — Oxford University Press, 2013. Chapter on the griffin in classical zoological and mythological literature.