![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Dionysius the Areopagite gives the meaning of the word as “fullness of knowledge” or “outpouring of wisdom” (The Celestial Hierarchy 7.1). Meanwhile, the cherub was given a wholly theological connotation, and the Church Father traditionally known as St. Isidore of Seville, lists the “gryphon,” along with a scientific description of the beast, in his compendium of known animals, and the later Sir John Mandeville actually claims to have seen griffins in the course of his travels. Thus, the 7 th-century encyclopedist, St. Nevertheless, just as Herodotus and Pliny describe the griffin as a real animal, so the medieval Christians in turn did not regard the Greek “gryphes” as having any pagan religious significance, but as an actual earthly creature. Medieval Christians, having read of “gryphes” in classical authors and “cherubim” in the Scriptures, and lacking the more extensive and sophisticated knowledge of etymology that we now possess, did not realize that there was any connection between the two. John’s vision of heaven, moreover, the cherubim around the throne of God each have one of these faces, “the fourth living creature” being “like a flying eagle” (Revelation 4:7). Note that the cherubim in the Prophet Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 1) have an eagle’s head along with those of the man, the lion, and the ox. But the Hebrew cherub too partakes of the aquiline. After all, the resemblance of the Near Eastern terms for this eagle-like creature to a Greek root meaning “curved” or “hooked” seemed to suggest to ancient Greeks the predominance of aquiline characteristics. ![]() It is the Greeks that most consistently give their “gryphes” the head of the eagle, with its characteristic hooked beak. Besides, isn’t it possible that as it was cherubim that God assigned to guard the gates of Paradise (Genesis 3:24), various peoples throughout the world might have preserved independently some dim knowledge of these creatures that barred their ancestors from the place of their fall? Secular scholars often seem to suggest that the Hebrews borrowed their creature from, for instance, the Persians, but the Persians could well have learned of it from the Hebrews instead. The English word “griffin,” sometimes spelled “gryffin” or “gryphon,” derives from the Greek word “gryphon” or “gryps.” The Greeks in turn, however, had derived their word from the ancient Near Eastern “karibu,” a word and a creature that seem to be directly related to the Hebrew “cherub.” Depending on whether the closest relative of the Hebrew word is Phoenician or Persian, William Gesenius suggests it may mean either “divine steed” or “one who ministers at God’s throne” on the one hand, or else “keeper” on the other hand.Īlthough neither portrays them with exact consistency, both Hebrews and other peoples of the Near East commonly depict these creatures as having the bodies of lions and the wings of eagles, but often with a human face. The Academy of Classical Christian Studies bears as its mascot the griffin, a half-eagle, half-lion creature with a long and venerable history. Aaron Taylor teaches Humanities as part of our North Traditional model. ![]()
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