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SciFi & Fantasy Art / Gallery 174 of 1003 / Aleister Lam / Picture 23 of 74 / Gryphon Variations : The Pyrippus

"Gryphon Variations : The Pyrippus" by Aleister Lam

SciFi/Fantasy Picture 23 out of 74 by Aleister Lam. ←Previous - Next→

SciFi and Fantasy Art Gryphon Variations : The Pyrippus by Aleister Lam

Most people are fascinated and are aware of the heavenly horses that soar gracefully above the sky; there are people who devoted an entire passage and even an entire web-site just on the winged horse, Pegasus.
Then there is the single horned mythical creature, known as the Unicorn, which have also garnered its own group of loyal supporters and fans. But little is mentioned about the horses that dwells below the earth, the stallions that reign supreme in the hellish underground. Many don't even know that there is a name given to these hellish stallions called Pyrippi ( plural ).
In Greek mythology they are said to reside in the underworld and are responsible for driving the chariot of Hades. I prefer to think that the Pyrippus (singular) is a combination of various mythical horses like a body similar to the Unicorn with cloven hooves, fetlocks and manes; like Pegasus, it is also winged but instead of feathered wings, Pyrippus has a pair of bat-like wings and a barbed tail like that of a Wyvern.
In traditional symbology the feathered wings of Pegasus symbolises transcendence and liberty whilst the leathery bat-like wings of the Pyrippus symbolises the perversion of the intellect towards the evil nature. These creatures while having the basic form of a horse are also reptilian by nature as they have a sleek dark purplish scaly hide. I classified them under the Gryphon variations because they have a beaked snout which is like that of a bird and a forked tongue similar to a serpent. These demonsteed are swifter in terms of flight as compared to Pegasus because of their leathery winged appendages. Their scaly hide makes them impenetratable to fire and most weapons ,their serpentine and barbed tail which is about 5 feet in length also serves to distract and swings like a defensive club in time of danger.
These demonsteeds are formidable creatures as they have powerful strides and hooves that are as tough as steel that they used to trample their enemy; their powerful bird-like snout enable them to peck or ripped into the flesh of its oppressors and tearing it to pieces. If anyone have more informations about these interesting equine mythical creatures like their habitat, origins or history; would appreciate if You could email me?

Date	Name	Comment
10 Mar 2003	Beginner	Loading... Boring yawn
13 Apr 2003	Lex Gurst	Loading... It is one thing to tell someone that a piece is boring and then elaborate on that-- but to just say it is boring? Especially when it is not? How silly. The colors drew me to this thumbnail-- I was curious to see what technique was used, especially on that background. You did a nice job on the transparency of the wings, and I also like the texture of the scales.
5 Jul 2003	Pegacorna	Loading... I appreciate what you have done here. Not many people research the more obscure references. I wrote a poem a few years ago (12 pages and still not finished ack!) about Aganippe, a greek female pegasus-nightmare cross which is actually a form of Demeter (nature goddess) in her destroyer form. I featureed the pyrippus as part of the descent into Hell in the poem. It is hard researching a lot of these creatures! Makes me want to pull out my poem and start working on it again though! Thanks!
13 Jul 2003	Anonymous	Loading... You have contributed to my understanding of the symbology of Pegasus. For the past few days I have been seeing Pegasus fly towards me with open wings when I am in a state of meditation. This happened a couple of years ago as well whilst embarking on a time of significant change within my life. Thank you for your contribution toward my deeper understanding.
24 Aug 2003	Bird of Prey	Loading... Pyrippus???? The name means "fire horse", right????
24 Jul 2004	Rin Sevlow <Loading... Hehe! ^-^ Cool!
20 Feb 2006	Anonymous	Loading... That is freakin awsom!!! The detail is amazing!! 4000 thumbs up!
21 Dec 2006	Anonymous	Loading... Cheers! DemonSteed's demo/LP 'NITRO GROUND SHAKER' out soon! <a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j208/RachelErinDriscoll/DemonSteedSkullLogo.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>