No. 261. Golden Ornament.
A Griffin. Sepulchre III.
Actual size.
GOLDEN GRIFFINS.
I further collected there three griffins of gold, of which I represent one (No. 261); the upper part of their bodies is that of an eagle, the lower that of a lion; the wing is ornamented with spirals. Each of these objects has three perforations, which can leave no doubt that they have been sewn on the clothes as ornaments. The griffins are mythic animals belonging to India, whence they came over to the West. We find the griffin on the most ancient fictile vases of a rude Egyptianising style, in company with sphinxes and winged lions. This fantastical animal has become the central point of a curious legendary cycle, for we find it already mentioned in Hesiod and Herodotus as watcher of the gold in the far north of Europe.[289] Pliny describes the gryphi as ferarum volucre genus, which mira cupiditate dig up the gold ex cuniculis and watch it, likewise in the north of Europe, that is, in the land of the Scythians.[290] Damis Olear[291] maintains that the griffins have been derived from India, and gives the following description of them: "The gold which the griffins dig up consists of stones incrusted with golden drops like fiery points, which they beat off by the power of their hard beak. These animals are found in India, where they are sacred to the sun, whence the Indian painters represent Helios riding on teams of four griffins. The griffin has the size and strength of the lion, but is superior to the latter by its wings, and vanquishes even elephants and large serpents. But he cannot overpower the tiger, who excels by his rapid motion." Böttiger[292] explains these monsters as simple productions of the Indian carpet-manufacture, because from a remote antiquity the Indians delight in compounding their sacred animals. It appears certain that the griffin came in the retinue of Dionysus from India to Greece, and that it therefore became here the symbol of wisdom and enlightenment.
Nos. 262, 263. Golden Ornaments. Heart and Lion.
Sepulchre III. Actual size.
I further found with the three bodies of the third tomb three ornaments in the shape of hearts, of which I give the engraving of one (No. 262). As they have no perforations, they must have been glued on to the drapery. There were also found four golden ornaments (see No. 263) representing crouching lions, with four or five perforations in the margin for sewing them on the clothes or drapery. Though rather roughly made, the body of the animal is true to nature, and particularly the head. The passion of the Mycenean artist for spirals is shown in the form of the lion's tail. As Mr. A. S. Murray, of the British Museum, justly observed to me, the spiral is no proof whatever of oriental influence, because it is a form which every curling wire would naturally suggest, and its general existence and independent use is attested by the spiral ornamentations of the ancient Mexicans, Peruvians, and Egyptians.
