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About this book

Physiologus

About this book

The Gryphon

Chapter 47

1 The Gryphon is the largest bird of all the birds of heaven. It lives in the far East in an inlet of the ocean-stream. And, when the sun rises over the water-depths and lights the world with its beams, the Gryphon spreads out its wings and receives the rays of the sun.⁠ And another rises with it, and the two fly together toward the sunset, as it is written: "Spread your wings, dispenser of light; give the world light."⁠ 2 In the same way the two Gryphons stand for the Godhead, that is, for the Archangel Michael and the Holy Mother of God, and they receive your spirit, so that it may not be said: "I do not know you." 3 Physiologus spoke well about the Gryphon.

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Enoch 15:2 and Physiologus 47:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Early Christian

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Summary

In 2 Enoch, phoenixes sing at sunrise, that the giver of light is coming to light the whole world. The Physiologus, an early Christian book of animal lore, describes the same cry to the giver of light in its chapter on the gryphon, a giant bird.

Passages

2 Enoch 15:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Secrets of Enoch
1 Then the elements of the sun, called Phoenixes and Chalkydri break into song, therefore every bird flutters with its wings, rejoicing at the giver of light, and they broke into song at the command of the Lord. 2 The giver of light comes to give brightness to the whole world, and the morning guard takes shape, which is the rays of the sun, and the sun of the earth goes out, and receives its brightness to light up the whole face of the earth, 3 and they showed me this calculation of the sun's course. And the gates it enters are the great gates used to calculate the hours of the year;
1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Enoch

Physiologus 47:1

Early Christian
1 The Gryphon is the largest bird of all the birds of heaven. It lives in the far East in an inlet of the ocean-stream. And, when the sun rises over the water-depths and lights the world with its beams, the Gryphon spreads out its wings and receives the rays of the sun. And another rises with it, and the two fly together toward the sunset, as it is written: "Spread your wings, dispenser of light; give the world light." 2 In the same way the two Gryphons stand for the Godhead, that is, for the Archangel Michael and the Holy Mother of God, and they receive your spirit, so that it may not be said: "I do not know you." 3 Physiologus spoke well about the Gryphon.
150–350 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Physiologus

References

“... When the sun rises, they greet it (as in 3 Bar. 6:14S): the elements of the sun, called phoenixes and chalkydri break into song, herefore every bird flutters with its wings, rejoicing at the giver of light, and they broke into song at the command of the Lord. (2 En. (J) 15:1) In 2 En. (J) 15:2 they also pronounce, “The Light giver is coming to give radiance to the whole world” (as in 3 Bar. 6:14S). [...] Similar traditions are preserved in texts posterior to 3 Baruch, of which at least some may be dependent on it (Laevius, Pterigion Phoenicis; Byzantine Physiologus; Disputatio Panagiotae). In some of these sources magic birds also moderate the sun’s radiation (see James, “Baruch,” lxiv; Ryssel, “Baruch,” 452; Broek 261f; 287–297). Griffin of Byzantine Physiologus (52) shares also the unique motif of the inscription on the bird’s wings (3 Bar. 6:7–8). Moreover, these words are almost identical to 3 Bar. 6:14: “O Light giver, give light to the world!” (Harlow, Baruch, 137; cf. also in Slavonic versions of Physiologus; Belova, Bestiarij, 92; 283). ...”
Alexander Kulik, Baruch: Greek-Slavonic Apocalypse of Baruch (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2010), 238–239.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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2 Enoch 15:2 and Physiologus 47:1

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