2. The Griffin
The latter strategy
of rationalization is that followed by Mayor in a fascinating
examination of the legendary creature, the griffin. Noting that the
griffin played no real role in Greek mythology,397 nonetheless there
are artistic depictions of such creatures in Greek art. One of the
most interesting aspects of accounts of griffins according to Mayor
is both their consistency,398 and the fact that
they were consistently described as guarding “treasures.”399 Seeking a
scientific explanation for this consistency and the origin of these
legends, Mayor traces it back to the Gobi Desert tracer gold
fields, and to the fact that the same fields exhibit fossils of the
dinosaur protoceratops, which bears a strong resemblance to the
griffin.400