Sphinx

The word “sphinx” is Greek in origin, although some scholars have suggested that it was derived from the Egyptian shesepankh , meaning living image; the word for sphinx in Egyptian was šspw . In Greek mythology the word referred to the creature with a woman's head and torso, a lion's body, and the wings of an eagle that guarded the gates of the Greek city of Thebes and asked a riddle of anyone who wished to enter the city; if they failed to answer correctly, she would devour them. Oedipus was the only one who correctly responded to the Greek Sphinx's riddle: “Which creature in the morning goes on four legs, at midday on two, and in the evening upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?” with the answer, “man”.

Art · Eagle · Etymology · Greek mythology · Literature · Meaning (existential) · Morning · Mythology · Sphinx · Torso · Visual arts · Anatomy · History · Medicine · Philosophy