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Sphinx, in ancient
Egypt, the stone figure of a lion in a resting posture, the upper part of
the body being that of a human, usually male rather than female. In Egypt
sphinxes appear to have been set up along avenues that formed the approaches to
temples.
The most famous of all Egyptian sphinxes is the Great
Sphinx at Giza, near the pyramids. It guards the
entrance to the Nile Valley. With the exception of the paws, it was
carved from one block of stone and measures about 20 m (about 66 ft) high and
about 73 m (about 240 ft) long. The statue, which probably dates from around
2500 bc, was intended to represent
the Egyptian god Horus. In some Egyptian sphinxes the upper part of
the body is that of a ram, and the creature is known as a Criosphinx. If a
sphinx has the upper body of a falcon, it is known as a Hieracosphinx.
Both the legend and the figure of the Sphinx were probably
introduced into Greece from Egypt, but the nature of the Sphinx became modified
in Greek mythology and art. In Greek mythology, the Sphinx was a
monster with the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings
of a bird. Lying crouched on a rock, she accosted all who were about to enter
the city of Thebes by asking them a riddle, “What is it that has
four feet in the morning, two at noon, and three at night?” If they could not
solve the riddle, she killed them. When the hero Oedipus solved the
riddle by answering, “Man, who crawls on four limbs as a baby, walks upright on
two as an adult, and walks with the aid of a stick in old age,” the Sphinx
killed herself. For ridding them of this terrible monster, the Thebans made
Oedipus their king.
Source Taken From:
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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