In Greek mythology the Sphinx is a creature who has the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird of prey. She was the daughter of Echidna and Orthrus or Typhon and Chimaera. According to another tradition she is the daughter of Laius, the king of Thebes, or Ucalegon of Boeotia. The name of this creature derives from the Greek word "sphingo," to strangle, or "sphingein," to bind tight. This supposedly comes from the Sphinx's habit of strangling her victims. The goddess Hera sent the Sphinx to the city of Thebes to either punish Laius for loving another man, Chrysippus; or to punish the city itself because its founder was related to one of Zeus' lovers. Whatever the reason, the Sphinx came and perched herself on a cliff outside town. There she would ask every passerby a riddle or two which she had learned from the Muses. One riddle was: "What creature walks on four leg at dawn, two during the middle of the day and three in the evening? And, during which time is the creature at it's weakest state?" Another riddle was: "There are two sisters; one gives birth to the other who then gives birth to the first. Who are these sisters?" She devoured anyone who did not give her the correct answer. (In one version all the inhabitants of the city tried to solve the riddle together but failed and so the Sphinx would eat one of them every evening) A young man named Oedipus was soon to come to Thebes, but before doing so he had gotten angry with Laius and killed him (not knowing the king was his father). After this tragedy, Laius' brother in law Creon took the throne of Thebes. Conserned about the Sphinx, the new king seeked advice from the Oracle at Delfi who told him that the beast will commit suicide once someone gave her the correct answer to one of her riddle(s). Creon promised that as a reward whoever would defeat the Sphinx would not only have the throne but his sister Jocasta as wife (Note: She was also the wife of Laius). When Oedipus then came to Thebes and met the Sphinx he gave her the correct answer to the first riddle which was "Man". In the beginning of Man's life he crawls on all four, then he walks on two legs and towards the end of his life he is supporting himself on a stick. The answer to the second one was "Night and Day" because in Greek both are feminine nouns and are therefore "sisters". It is unclear whether Oedipus answered both riddles or just the first one, but either way around the outcome was the same. The Sphinx threw herself off the rock and died, and Oedipus got his reward only to discover in horror that his new wife was actually his mother. The Sphinx in Greek art was influenced by that of the Assyrian, which also was female and had wings. The Phoencian sphinx had two heads, lion body, and wings. One head was that of a lion but the other was human and wore a tall head-dress which resembles the white crown of upper Egypt. Unlike the earlier mentioned sphinxes, Egyptian sphinxes (amongst them the Great sphinx of Giza) were mostly male and had no wings. The sphinxes of Egypt can be divided into different categories: crisophinx (lion body with ram head), hierocosphinx (lion body with hawk head), and androsphinx (lion body with human head, like the Great Sphinx). Those with human heads have been said to bear much resemblence to certain Pharaohs. It would therefor seem like a logical conclusion that Egyptian sphinxes may have been symbols of royal power and guardianship. In places like Luxor and Karnak, avenues with rows of sphinx statues can be seen. Such statues can also be found outside temples. The most famous sphinx is the sphinx of Giza. The ancient Egyptians referred to it as Hor-em-akht (Horus in the Horizon), Bw-How (Place of Horus) but also as Ra-horakhty (Ra of Two Horizons). The sphinx's face was once believed to be that of the pharoah Khafre, but results of further studies of the statue have shown that the statue is even older than that.

She devoured anyone who did not give her the correct answer. This is an edited version of 'Riddle on the heights' by Season Bivens The Egyptian sphinx. Image by Lisa L. Hart. Other sphinx images from Elfwood:

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