Gripping

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Minoan wing griffin from Crete (scheme)
Griffin ( Martin Schongauer , copper engraving around 1485)

The griffin (Pers. "Homa", Latin gryphus , this from ancient Greek γρῦψ, Gen. γρυπός - gryps, grypós , related to the Hebrew cherub , since the 10th century in Old High German as grif (o) ) is a made from animal bodies , mythical hybrid creature . It is usually depicted with a lion-like body, the head of a bird of prey, with a powerful beak, pointed ears, mostly with wings, but also in different versions (with a snake's head, bird's feet, scorpion tail, with a button-like or head-like appendage on the vertex or back). Strength and vigilance are attributes of the griffin throughout history.

Possible origin of the myth

Reconstructed skeleton of a protoceratops

There are speculations that in ancient times nomads ( Scythians ) while prospecting for gold in the vast deserts of Central Asia found fossils of Protoceratops , a dinosaur whose remains are often found in the Cretaceous deposits of this region. Such fossils, as they can still be found today in the Gobi desert on the edge of the Altai Mountains ( Mongolian : "Golden Mountains") in a good state of preservation, could have been the basis for the myth of the griffin (here originally as a gold guardian). Protoceratops , like all of its relatives, had a large beak and a body that might have reminded humans of that of a lion. The dinosaur's neck shield could have been mistaken for wings. In addition, there are numerous fossil dinosaur eggs in Mongolia, and so it was said in ancient times how griffins guarded their gold-lined nests on the ground. Whether and how these ideas got to the West, through stories from travelers or through pictures on traded cultural assets, remains hypothetical.

Achaemenid griffin in Persepolis
Head part of a griffin protome from Olympia , 7th century BC.

history

The griffin is a mythical creature known in many ancient oriental cultures ( Elam (ancient times) , Egypt , Babylonia , Assyria , Hittites , Anatolia ). In Egyptian art it has been used since the end of the fourth millennium  BC. Chr . Stimulated from there, it came to Syria in the early 2nd millennium . The griffin, which occurs in Mesopotamian mythology , has only been around since around 1400 BC. Occupied.

The hybrid creatures that appear similar to the griffin in Sumer are known as lion griffins . Anzu seems to be their forerunner and appeared from the Akkad period (2340 BC) to the beginning of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (626 BC).

Classical antiquity

The Mycenaean culture and since the 8th century BC BC Greek art also adopted their griffin motifs from the Orient. Details such as the erect ears, the side curl or the open beak were taken from late Hittite pictorial creations. As a griffin protome , a type of particularly high quality and frequently used animal heads on kettles and jugs has become known. Further representations can be found on the helmets of the Athena statues by the ancient sculptor Phidias , on breastplates and coins , e.g. B. on those of Opus , Teos , Abdera , as acroteries on temples and finally as decoration on Roman columns . In ancient times, the griffin was a symbol of sharp-eyed cleverness and vision and is therefore an attribute of Apollo .

In Greek mythology , the griffin is passed down through the epic Arimaspeia of Aristeas , in which this animal protects the gold pits against the Arimaspen as a watchful guardian in India and on the Riphean Mountains . Other sources name the place as lying behind the land of the Scythians . Aeschylus lets the Ocean ride on him and harness him to his chariot.

The griffin from Redován in Madrid comes from the Iberian culture.

Griffin of Pisa. Andalusia, 11th century

The griffin of Pisa is of Islamic origin , a large, meter-high bronze sculpture that has stood on the roof of the cathedral in Pisa since around 1100 and was probably made in the 11th century in what was then Islamic Andalusia .

Middle Ages and Modern Times

Alexander's Assumption, Venice, S.Marco, 11th century
Medieval tapestry from Basel , around 1450. Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin

The symbolism of grasping in post-antiquity is predominantly determined Christologically . Around 600, Isidore of Seville saw his dual nature as a symbol of Christ ruling over heaven and earth. Even if Albertus Magnus referred the griffin to the realm of fable, it was consistently believed to be a real living being until well after the end of the Middle Ages, like the dragon . Two griffins appearing in the Physiologus are interpreted as Maria and Michael .

In pictorial contexts, as in antiquity, he often appears in the role of guardian (e.g. as guardian of the grave, the tree or fountain of life). Above all, however, in the Romanesque period it appears as a strong and vigilant animal that, where it flanks the portals of numerous Italian churches as a column-bearing creature, for example, overcomes and fends off all evil in the form of lions, snakes and basilisks . The griffin is also widely represented on animal friezes and other elements of Romanesque architectural sculpture. Representations of the animal world of Paradise ( Gen. 1.20) were often enriched with griffins in the early Middle Ages. In bestiaries , the natural history of the animal kingdom, the griffins usually appear as violent beings that overcome other animals or people. The motif of the symmetrically facing griffins was used particularly frequently in ornamentation , especially in the art of silk weaving. On ivory boxes from the 11th and 12th centuries they play their role as guardian animals again. The Ascension of Alexander the Great is depicted on capitals and in manuscripts with two griffins, which carry the basket of the ancient aviator in the air, surely to give a moralizing example of the court journey . In the animal fable Dialogus creaturarum , the griffin appears as a peacemaker between birds and four-legged friends because it belongs to both species.

The so-called "grasping eggs", the medieval in the inventories and later church treasures and royal treasuries occur are as trophies broader ostrich eggs . Drinking vessels that were held by griffins or adorned with them are often handed down from the later Middle Ages, a separate type of vessel in the shape of a drinking horn mounted on griffin feet is named as "griffin claw". In the Gothic and Renaissance periods, the griffin lost its iconographic significance. Sandro Botticelli's drawing based on a scene from Dante's Divine Comedy , where a griffin pulls the church's two-wheeled triumphal chariot, remains isolated in the pictorial tradition. The emblematic of the Baroque period cites the mythical animal as a symbol of God's blessing and Christian generosity. For the German encyclopedist Johann Georg Krünitz in 1780 the griffin undoubtedly belongs to the myth and the world of fables, as a real living being he describes in detail the condor under this lemma . In classicism , the meaning of the motif is completely lost in its diverse, but purely decorative functions, especially in furniture construction and associated fittings and as pot spouts. In the late historicism of the Neo-Romanesque period , the medieval motif of the griffins was once again taken up as a church portal guard.

Fairy tale literature

In the fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm, Der Vogel Greif , handed down in Swiss German (Aargau dialect) , the hero Hans tears a feather out of the tail of the Christian-eating “Vogelgrif”. In another Grimm fairy tale, The Singing, Jumping Löweneckerchen , the bird griffin resides on the Red Sea .

Heraldic and other iconic signs

Badischer Greif at City Hall West (Karlsruhe)

In heraldry , the griffin, like the lion , is a heraldic animal in the series of common figures .

Heraldic animal of the USK

As a book printer's mark and publisher's mark, the griffin has been very common since the 16th century. So is the griffin u. a. the symbol for the Cotta'sche publishing house and for the publishing house CH Beck . In addition, since 1858 it has been the symbol of the Brockhaus brand and the symbol of the former F. A. Brockhaus publishing house .

In Kleinbasel (right of the Rhine part of Basel ) is in January a " bird Gryff celebrated called" popular feast day in which the three heraldic figures Greif ( Gryff ) Wilder Mann ( Wild Maa ) and Leo ( Leu ) roam the neighborhoods and perform traditional dances . The custom goes back to military patterns in the Middle Ages. A hallmark of the Wandervogel movement of the early 20th century is the Wandervogel griffin . In the pen & paper role-playing game Das Schwarze Auge , the griffins are sacred and stand for truth, law and rule. The car manufacturers Saab Automobile , Vauxhall Motors and Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur rely on the symbolism of the power of grasping and use it as a logo. The Bavarian support command also uses the griffin as a symbol.

medal

Oswald von Wolkenstein - Portrait from the Innsbruck manuscript from 1432 (song manuscript B)

The Order of the Griffin or Arragonian Jug Order was founded in 1410 by Ferdinand of Castile and named after the jug or vase with the three lilies (as an image of the purity of the Mother of God) that formed a chain on which a griffin hung. Ferdinand I of Naples bestowed the order on noble travelers. The famous minstrel Oswald von Wolkenstein was also awarded this order in 1415.

In 1884 the Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III donated. the Mecklenburg Griffin Order as an award in five degrees.

See also

literature

  • Hubert Cancic and Helmuth Schneider: Greif. In: The New Pauly. Encyclopedia of Antiquity. Volume 4, Stuttgart 1998, Col. 117-1218.
  • Géza Jászai: Art. Griffin . In: Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte , only digital in: RDK Labor (2015), [18. November 2015], (digital) .
  • Little Pauly. Lexicon of Antiquity in 5 volumes. Volume 2, Munich 1979, p. 876 f.
  • Lexikon der Kunst , Volume 3, Leipzig 1991, pp. 3–4.
  • E. Hollerbach, Greif. In: Lexicon of Christian Iconography. Volume 2, Freiburg 1970, pp. 202-204.
  • Hans Bonnet: Griffin. In: Lexikon der Ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte , Hamburg 2000 ISBN 3-937872-08-6 p. 262f.
  • Stephani: The griffin. In: Compte rendu de la commission archéologlque de St-Pétersbourg ; 1864
  • Wilfried Menghin, Hermann Parzinger, Anatoli Nagler, Manfred Nawroth (eds.): In the sign of the golden griffin - royal tombs of the Scythians . Prestel Verlag 2007, ISBN 978-3-7913-3855-2 .

Web links

Commons : Griffin  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Greif  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German dictionary by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Volume 4.1, edited by Artur Hübner and Hans Neumann, Leipzig 1935, pp. 5–11; Friedrich Wild, Gryps - Griffin - Gryphon (Griffin). A study of linguistic, cultural and material history, in: Session reports of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Volume 241, 4th essay, Vienna 1963, pp. 3–28; Friedrich Kluge and Elmar Seebold, Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, 23rd edition Berlin / New York 1999, p. 336.
  2. ^ A b Adrienne Mayor: The First Fossil Hunters. Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2001, ISBN 0-691-08977-9 , pp. 15-53 (Chapter 1. The Gold-Guarding Griffin: A Paleontological Legend )
  3. ↑ Hubert Cancic and Helmuth Schneider: harpies. In: The New Pauly. Encyclopedia of Antiquity. Volume 4, Stuttgart 1998, column 1218.
  4. ↑ Gold of the Scythians. Treasures from the St. Petersburg State Hermitage . State Collection of Antiquities and Glyptothek, Munich 1984. ISBN 3-529-01845-7 .
  5. ↑ Géza Jászai offers an overview of the most important ancient text passages: Art. Greif . In: Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte , article Greif, section 2.B (digital) .
  6. ↑ 1832 replaced by a copy. Today in the Opera del Duomo (Pisa Cathedral Museum).
  7. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. by Wallace Martin Lindsay, Oxford 1911, Volume 2; see. liber XIV, cap. 3, 7. - Lexicon of Christian Iconography. Volume 2, Freiburg 1970, pp. 202-204.
  8. ^ Lexicon of Christian Iconography. Volume 2, Freiburg 1970, p. 203, with a series of examples.
  9. ↑ Thomas Noll : The griffin ride of Alexander the great. In: Michael Neumann and Inge Milfull (eds.): Myths of Europe / 2. Middle Ages. 2004, pp. 178-199. - See also section III.2. As aviation in: Wolfgang Stammler: Alexander d. Size In: Real Lexicon on German Art History. Volume I. 1934, Col. 332-344; digital in: RDK Labor, rdklabor.de [10. September 2015]
  10. ↑ Illustration of the relevant woodcut in the article Dialogus creaturarum , there also references to various editions from the last two decades of the 15th century.
  11. ↑ Géza Jászai, Greif, in: RDK Labor (2015), URL: rdklabor.de [18. November 2015], Section III.A.3.a, with note 76. (digital) .
  12. ↑ Image file: Botticelli illustration on the purgatorio
  13. ↑ Arthur Henkel and Albrecht Schöne: Emblemata , 1967, Sp. 380, 626, 797.
  14. ↑ Oekonomische Enzyclopädie, Volume 20, 1780, pp. 4-7. digital
  15. ↑ z. B. Bremen Cathedral , west portal, around 1894