The griffin who wanted to be a lion

Conservator Alexander Zokos carefully cleans the elaborate, oval ivory lid of a compass (jewelry box) found in the tomb of of a Bronze Age warrior (Griffin Warrior) at Pylos dated to around 1500 BC, and which was brought to light by archaeologists Sharon Stocker and Jack Davis of the University of Cincinnati in 2015. It depicts the battle between a lion and a griffin, with the former winning. The find raises new questions about the relationship between Mycenaeans and Minoans. “If we accept that the griffin is associated with Knossos, then we begin to reconsider even the original name Griffin Warrior,” says Davis. “The find prompts us to rethink what the warrior or those who buried him wanted to say with his grave goods and to ask whether he wanted to present himself as a lion, as a metaphor for the victorious warrior.” [Courtesy Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati]