History of Monsters. 341

Crab-like Harpy

Among the monstrous Egyptian idols, certain creatures possessing the body of a lion and the wings and face of an eagle are recorded; these are called Gryphons. They are fiercely hostile to horses, and thus it is no wonder that some refer to them as Hippogryphs.

Sir John Mandeville, however, in his travelogue, seems to describe these as if they were natural living creatures, reporting that cups are fashioned from their talons and bows from the ribs of their feathers—though the credibility of this must rest with the author. For our part, we shall present three distinct and, in our opinion, mythical representations of these taken from the Bembine Table.

The first illustration features the head of an eagle, enormous wings, and the remaining limbs of a lion. In its right foot, it carries something resembling a spit, and with its hind feet, it tramples the serpent of Aesculapius. This is because the Egyptians typically used this image to represent Apollo; hence, the ancient poets imagined that Apollo's chariot was drawn by Gryphons and gave Phoebus the epithet "Gryphinus." For this reason, a Gryphon is depicted on the coins of Gallienus with the inscription *APOLLINI CONS. AVG.* (To Apollo, Protector of the Emperor).