The griffin, with the hindquarters of a lion and the head, wings and talons of an eagle, is usually filed alongside the Minotaur and Medusa as a Greek monster. This episode traces the creature back much further: to a slate cosmetic palette from Hierakonpolis in Egypt dating before 3000 BC and a fourth-millennium BC cylinder seal from Susa showing a winged, beaked lion with its mane still attached. Egyptian, Persian and Greek names for the beast reveal what each culture projected onto it, from 'the terror' to a literal 'lion eagle', and why fusing the ruler of the sky with the ruler of the earth made such effective political branding.

From there the story follows the griffin into Greek lore through the traveler Aristeas and the Scythian gold fields guarded against one-eyed Arimaspian horsemen, into medieval theology as a symbol of Christ's d ...