A Hippogriff was a magical beast that had the front legs, wings, and head of a giant eagle and the body, hind legs and tail of a horse. It was very similar to another magical creature, the Griffin, with the horse rear replacing the  lion . They were supposedly a symbol of the Greek god Apollo, and the word Hippogriff comes from the Ancient Greek word for horse, 'hippos', and the Italian 'grifo', which means griffin, that other mythical half-eagle creature. According to legend, Hippogriffs are created when a griffin mates with a horse, hence the name.