Originally posted on Thursday, December 27, 2012
Some, occasionally, have wondered how it is that gold is produced.
Excellent authority has it that it is stolen from griffins by one-eyed men.
The “Father of History” Herodotus wrote:
But in the north of Europe there is by far the most gold. In this matter again I cannot say with assurance how the gold is produced, but it is said that one-eyed men called Arimaspians steal it from griffins. (3.116.1)
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 3630, Folio 77r
There is also a story related in a poem by Aristeas son of Caüstrobius, a man of Proconnesus. This Aristeas, possessed by Phoebus, visited the Issedones; beyond these (he said) live the one-eyed Arimaspians, beyond whom are the griffins that guard gold, and beyond these again the Hyperboreans, whose territory reaches to the sea. (4.13.1)
Of these too, then, we have knowledge; but as for what is north of them, it is from the Issedones that the tale comes of the one-eyed men and the griffins that guard gold; this is told by the Scythians, who have heard it from them; and we have taken it as true from the Scythians, and call these people by the Scythian name, Arimaspians; for in the Scythian tongue “arima” is one, and “spou” is the eye. (4.27.1)
“De Situ Orbis is a general geographical work of the known world written by the first Latin geographer, Pomponius Mela. The work is comprised into three different books, with the far off places of Scythia, India, Arabia and Ethiopia comprising mostly the last book. Mela moves the Gryphons again, this time west of the Issedones to the mountain Riphey, in Scythia. Like Herodotus though, he provides no descriptions of the creatures, yet remarks on their animal nature. Translation from Joe Nigg’s Book of Fabulous Beasts.”
“The boundaries and location of Asia, extending to our Sea and the river Tanais, are such as I have shown before. Now to them that row back again down the same river into Maeotis, on the right hand is Europe, which was directly on the left side of them as they sailed up the stream. The river borders the mountain Riphey. The snow which falls continually makes the country inaccessible to travel. Beyond is a country of very rich soil, but it is uninhabitable because the Griffons (a cruel and unyielding kind of wild beast) jealously love the gold which lies above the ground and are very hostile to anyone who approaches it. The first men are Scythians, and of the Scythians, the first are the Arimaspians: which are reported to have but one eye apiece. From there up to Maeotis are the Issedones…”
“One of the most influential and monumental works of the ancient age, the Naturalis Historia was compiled by Pliny the Elder from over 2000 tomes and hundreds of authorities, and is the only book of the many which Pliny had written which has withstood the test of Time. It was considered “the” standard work of natural science until it was discredited sometime in the seventeenth century. It is interesting to note that Pliny writes more of the Arimaspians and their flesh-eating monstrous nature than of the Gryphons, which again receive very little description. He also casts doubt upon the credulity of what he is reporting, but he seems determined to tell the world what he knows. There is a link below to an online version of the work at LacusCurtius, but alas, it is only available in its original Latin. Translation from Joe Nigg’s Book of Fabulous Beasts.”
“We have pointed out that some Scythian tribes, and in fact a good many, feed on human bodies – a statement that perhaps may seem incredible if we do not reflect that races of this portentous character have existed in the central region of the world, named Cyclopes and Laestrygones, and that quite recently the tribes of the parts beyond the Alps habitually practiced human sacrifice, which is not far removed from eating human flesh. But also a tribe is reported next to these, towards the North, not far from the actual quarter whence the North Wind rises and the cave that bears its name, the place called the Earth’s Door-Bolt – the Arimaspi whom we have spoken of already, people remarkable for having one eye in the centre of the forehead. Many authorities, the most distinguished being Herodotus and Aristeas of Proconessus, write that these people wage continual war around their mines with the griffins, a kind of wild beast with wings, as commonly reported, that digs gold out of mines, which the creatures guard and the Arimaspi try to take from them, both with remarkable covetousness.”
With great appreciation to GryphonPages.com for its meticulous compilation of translation of the classical texts … on all things griffin.
And to Bestiary.ca for its excellent compilation of medieval images of beasts, fabulous and otherwise.
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