Dragons and Griffins

[SakHareth]

I think it depends of much factors.
First off all: Territorium. How far are they in each others territorium or how close they're with the ones his/her lair.
Are they female/male, what are they doing or what is the reason that they met, ...

You could make a studie about it

[albvan]

First you would have to define what a dragon or a griffon actually is. This question is not so simple to answer. There is a vast array of different creatures in mythology, folklore and fantasy which can be either dragons or griffons. And also, since no real dragons and griffons are found, we can invent these creatures as much as we'd like. So, comparing them is just pointless.

[QueenOfTheShadows]

Actually gryphons are very clearly defined. they originated in Greek mythology and are pictured and described as having he hindquarters and body of a great ca, most particularly a lion, and the wings talons and head of a bird of prey, specifically an eagle.

As far as I can tell they were described as being fearsome predators. I have heard or found no information on intelligence. like many monsters in Greek mythos were savage bestial, plagues or punishments set on humans by the gods. Or were set in place to prevent precious and powerful artifacts from falling into mortal hands. his is even true of these that were born half human. many feasted on the flesh of intelligent beings and or wreaked havoc and ruin if they left the confines of their lairs.

In greek/roman myths the closest thing to dragons were again cunning vicious and cruel, and again were set by the gods to defend to the death those thins they were sent to protect. others were sent as punishments, when the gods were angered and destroyed human lives and homes more or less on whims

so following Greek and roman myth they'd probably wind up competing as a species.
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in middle eastern ( jewish, christian and Islamic beliefs) Dragons are far less defined. in some text ( I believe most of these are gnostic) the Seraphim Metatron who is interpreted by some scholars as being Satan/Lucifer/ is from time to time referred to as being "the old dragon". In the christian bible, Lucifer is sometimes called both the serpent or the dragon as well. Some legends from the middle ages state that every "dragon" was different in form as well. In size, appearance and personality.

unfortunately i have found no parallels to gryphons or gryphon like creatures like creatures in this mythos... so there are no solid answers here.
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In Asia on the other hand dragons are often described in myth and legend in great depths as being gods and masters of different elements. They were highly intelligent and quite wise.

this is true of many of the asian mythical beings, even the most monstrous of them they can see reason... so if there are any parallels to gryphons in the Asian mythos they probably would get along with dragons or they would have long ago as a species come to the conclusion that it is better to agree to disagree, and leave it at that. After all you would not wish to risk angering the relatives of a heavenly king, now would you?
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[albvan]

What about the Persian senmurv and the Slavic Semargl? The senmurv is a birdlike creature with four legs and most often a dogs head, very noble, very old and all-knowing, a symbol of divinity. Semargl is a Slavic god of similar appearance. They look very similar to gryphons to me, though they are completely different in behaviour. I also know of a theory from the Croatian general and national encyclopedia that Greeks "borrowed" the gryphon from Scythians, who lived in Eastern Europe and had contact with both Slavs and Persians. So there could be variations of them (gryphons)?

And I don't know of any gryphons in the Far East either.

[QueenOfTheShadows]

Legend is still rather specific as to what constitutes a gryphon under that name. there are many similar creatures in the myths and legends in and around the lands surrounding the Mediterranean. If you are counting creatures similar to gryphons as being very much same thing then certain incarnations of the sphinx and the hipogriff would thus be shoved into the same category as the gryphon. Though one is a horse/ eagle cross, and in some legends the other had the body of a cat the wings of a bird ant the face of a beautiful woman; And a "four legged bird like creature with a canid (dog/ doglike) head" could just as easily be interpreted as a being a dragon Albavan, especially if you look at some illustrations of creatures described as "dragons" on everything from ancient relief carvings to story-books.


For that matter in south America you see Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent was was also benevolent. carvings murals and Books survive from the thing of his worship, typically picture him as having serpents body; any where from 0 to 4 kegs, feathers (though not always wings) and as for his head if you look closely it sometimes appears in imagery looking much like the jaguar's, though that could be intentional or accidental, or simply due to the methods of stylization used in religious works by the Aztecs. Some choose to recognize him as being a dragon as well

To a certain degree the Greek, and Persians and other cultures whom held coastline along the Mediterranean and the middle east, would through contact wind up picking up and or borrowing names and or creatures present in myths of their nahabors. Regardless of the form that contact took. Wether it be the trading, be it of the typically though of goods or that of slaves, or through the domination of a particular local, near constant war; or simply people of different faiths brushing shoulders in a large city, it really doesn't matter. where goods and people travel, and gather so do words, and tales of all sorts. Words and beasts get adapted to reflect the tales, myths and legends in the regions they travel to as well.
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[albvan]

So that leaves the gryphon out of the category of vaguely defined creatures.
It seems that senmurvs are unique creatures as well.
Today I have, out of curiosity, looked up some ancient depictions of gryphons in the Hermitage online.
It is surprising to me that a mythical creature can be kept so uniform while expanding through vast regions. Gryphons look almost the same in Greece, in Persia, in Ukraine and all the way to the Altai mountains near Mongolia. In a mythical version of this area gryphons would encounter a lot of different dragons. Plenty of material to study.

[SakHareth]

I have a very good site about Gryphons, but i have the link only upstairs on the computer. Help me remind ^'^
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The Black Winged