Legend has it that the dragon is the metamorphosis of the Griffin, a giant animal that is half lion and half eagle in ancient Greek mythology. In myths and legends, Griffin lives in the Skitai Prairie extending from Ukraine to Central Asia, guarding treasures and tearing up all malicious strangers.
In all the known literatures, Herodotus recorded the story told by skeat for the first time in his book History, that is, there was a one-eyed man and the monster Griffin competing for gold in eastern skeat. Griffin and Cyclops do come from the myth of the Huste family, but the story of their struggle may be a historical invention of the Greeks.
Modern scholars believe that Cyclops in the Scaretti language Arimaspi is a mistranslation of the Lonely Watcher in the northeast language Armaspasa. The Lonely Watcher is a nomadic people rich in gold in Altai Mountains, and Altai Altai means gold.
Because the Steyr family is keen on casting Griffin-style ornaments with gold, the Greeks associated the gold treasure with the Griffin. There may be a story of Cyclops and skeat fighting for gold in history, so Cyclops was rumored by the Greeks to have stolen Griffin's gold and had a conflict with Griffin.
Because of this myth, Griffin is synonymous with the treasure keeper. Then in the development of heraldry in the Middle Ages, mythical creatures such as the Griffin were transformed into dragons, and then there was a story that dragons liked to collect glittering treasures.
Like the legend of Amazonians, the legend of "Cyclops" and the monster Griffin fighting for gold is also a very popular myth in ancient Greece. It is generally believed that they are just legendary figures, but aren't all legends illusory? Things.
For example, "Cyclops", no one would really believe that any nation was born with one eye, but strangely, not only the Scythians said there was such a nation, but also the ancient China people believed it. Many scholars have noticed that a "one-eyed country" was also mentioned in Shan Hai Jing, an ancient book in pre-Qin China.
There are too many strange nationalities and animals recorded in Shan Hai Jing, which can't be an objective record. However, as a collection of folklore, The One-Eyed Country tells us that the so-called "Cyclops" is not just the imagination of the skeletons, but there may really be a nation misunderstood by both the western skeletons and us in the East. According to Herodotus, the name of "arimaspi" comes from Skeeter, which means "one" and spou means "eye" (4: 27).
In this regard, some scholars who study Northeast China point out that this is a mistranslation by Skettis or Greeks. Because arima is equivalent to arma ("loneliness") in the northeast, spou is equivalent to spasa ("look, look") in the northeast.
In this way, the original intention of Arimaspi is not "Cyclops" or "one-eyed country", but "lonely watcher". This nation is actually normal, not born with one eye. So what is a "lonely watchman"?
China scholars' explanation is:
In northern Xinjiang and western Mongolia, there are a large number of stone statues set by nomadic people;
The role of these stone statues is to guard the royal tombs (later, the "stone statue Weng Zhong" in front of China's tomb may have learned this custom);
Moreover, their appearance can be traced back to before the 8th century BC, so "Lonely Watchers" may refer to the people who built these stone statues.
It is still unknown who this country really is. However, from the distribution of stone statues and the map of the eastern Eurasian grassland drawn by us according to Herodotus' description, we can roughly know their living range.
In contrast, the monster "Griffin ∕ Grypos ·∕grypos∕gryphon∕griffin", which is half lion and half eagle, has a much better fate in the later western culture, and it has won a lot of long-term performances. In Greek and Roman mythology, in medieval church buildings and in the arms of nobles, we can always see the image of the Griffin. The main story related to them is the myth that they fought "Cyclops" to defend gold.
Since "Cyclops" may not be a myth, what about Griffin? Is there any factual basis? The answer is yes. Because Griffin is an artistic image created by the Scythians. In the myth of skeletons, this animal, which is half lion and half eagle, is a kind of god beast, and its image often appears in the decoration of unearthed skeletons. What this magical animal means to the Skettians is impossible to research, but what is certain is that in the mythical world of Skettians, Griffin is just a fierce monster who likes to prey on animals (especially horses), but he has never fought with people, so the story of their struggle for gold with "Cyclops" should be created by the Greeks.
It may be because the Scots like to cast small ornaments with the image of the Griffin with gold, which leads the Greeks to associate the Griffin with gold and treasure, thus producing the legend that they are the guardians of gold. Since there are guards, we need to guard against them, so "Cyclops" is said to be a man trying to rob gold.
If there is any historical basis for this myth, it is Altai Mountain, a mountainous area where "Cyclops/Lonely Watcher" lived in history, which is indeed rich in gold. The original meaning of Altai Mountain is "Golden" Mountain. So, is it possible that Cyclops/Lonely Watcher and skeat will really compete for gold in history? So the Greeks created this myth.
However, through this myth, Griffin's image has since become synonymous with "treasure guardian" and "brave warrior" in western civilization. As mentioned above, some nobles have Griffin in their heraldry, and the rule at that time was that only those who showed special courage on the battlefield could use its pattern in their heraldry.
In addition, there is no image of "dragon" in western cultural tradition, and most of the dragons that appeared in the Middle Ages were Griffin's deformation (of course, other mythical animals were also mixed). Only by understanding this can you understand why dragons in western literature have wings and always guard what treasures.