In ancientGreek mythology, this is a monster with the head of a woman, the front feet and body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the tail of abull. It is an evil creature. It kills people and then eats them.[1] It is the character of the legend ofOedipus.[2]
InEgyptian mythology, the sphinx is usually a kind creature, but it has same power as in theGreek version. Both Greek and Egyptian sphinxes guard something, and statues of sphinxes stand near the doors to palaces.[3]
During theRenaissance inEurope, people made the sphinx in different ways. This was because people had translated the description of the sphinx into Renaissance languages differently.However, pictures of the sphinx are usually associated with the Egyptian Sphinx.
The word sphinx comes from theGreek word Σφίγξ, meaning "compress", "pull up" because this is how lions kill theanimals that they eat.However, the historian Susan Wise Bauer suggests that the word "sphinx" was instead a Greek corruption of the Egyptian name "shesepankh".[4]
Indian culture also has pictures of lion-men.Some palaces are decorated with lion-men.
Asphinx dates back to theOld Kingdom of Egypt, and its name comes from theAncient Greek name for a "stranger". The Sphinx is also common in South and South-EastAsia, and was popular inEurope from the times of theRenaissance. The Sphinx was famous for riddles. It was used to protect the pyramids of Giza. Giza has ahead of a man and the body of a lion. One notable sphinx appears in the legend ofOedipus and killed travellers who failed to correctly answer a riddle about the three ages of man ("Which creature has one voice, but travels on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening?"). Oedipus correctly solved it ("Man-he crawls on all fours as a baby, in adulthood, he walks upright, and in old age, he walks with a cane").
