The griffin is an imaginary hybrid creature with the body of a lion and the head of a bird, with or without wings. The special symbolic importance of the mythical creature in the Creto-Mycenaean world is attested by its depiction in scenes associated with the appearance and cult of the goddess, and the authority of the ruler. Typical examples are found on gold signet rings and seals with epiphany and cult scenes, in the frescoes of Akrotiri Thera and in the Throne Rooms of the palaces of Knossos and Pylos. The famous Agia Triada Sarcophagus, with its images of chariots drawn by wild goats and griffins, may depict the final journey of the deceased, stressing the goddess’s dominion over not only the world of the living but also the world of the dead. The griffin as an iconographic theme is reintroduced to Greek art in the Archaic period from Egypt and the East, in the context of the adoption of elements of the Orientalising Style, as one of several “chimeric” creatures, hybrids of two or more animals (such as the sphinx and the siren). Griffins are mainly found in vase-painting and in the shape of relief protomes (busts) attached to metal and clay cauldrons.