What is the origin/myth surrounding the creature the sphinx?

Question

I'm looking for the history of the "being" so to say, not the history specifically to the Sphinx in Giza. Not keen on the sphinx in greek myths, but the mythology before that. Thanks.

Answer 1

the sphinx is considered the beast of initiation where power and wisdom are concerned. it is also the equivalent of the griffith. but the truth behind the sphinx lay hidden still and no one answer will ever be considered absolute for now.

Answer 2

The Sphinx was the daughter of Typhon. As was her father, she too was a strange looking creature. She had the body of a lion, wings of a bird, and the face of a woman. Hera, or Hades, sent the Sphinx to plague the city of Thebes. She sat on a rock of Mt. Phicium, north of Thebes. The Sphinx was told to tell a riddle to every passerby and if they could not answer it correctly then she would eat them. The riddle was, "What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at midday, and three in the evening?" No one could answer this question except Oedipus. Oedipus answered, "a man because a man crawls as a baby, walks upright as an adult, and needs the aid of a cane in old age." This was the correct answer and the Sphinx was so distraught by the correct answer that she threw herself from the rock refusing to use her wings where she sat. Oedipus was proclaimed the king of Thebes. Hope this is what your looking for. Oh yeah..Please vote best answer. =)

Answer 3

The Sphinx appears in Greek mythology as the monster-a woman's head and breasts, dog's body, lion's paws, wings of an eagle, and the tail of the serpent-who questioned Oedipus. To the ancient Egyptians, she symbolically represented the Nile and its seasons. She was also a manifestation of Hathor, Goddess of birth and death. The Sphinx of Egypt was built as guardian of the horizons, the rising and setting sun. It held the keys to the wisdom gates. In the path to deep knowing, initiates had to confront the challenges that the Sphinx posed.

Answer 4

The sphinx is a creature that has the body of a lion and the head of a pharaoh. It guards places. It will ask you a question and if you answer correctly, you pass. But, if you answer wrong, then the sphinx will kill you.

Answer 5

Check out this wikipedia article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx

I know it's not a lot of detail, but when you are talking about a mythical creature that pre-dates even the Greek Civilization, it's going to be hard to find what the true basis was. However, the Sphinx (and not just the one in Gaza) plays a part in Ancient Egypt.

Good luck writing your term paper.

Answer 6

Sphinx is an iconic image of a recumbent lion with the head of a ram, of a falcon or of a person, invented by the Egyptians of the Old Kingdom, but a cultural import in Greek mythology.

click here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx

Answer 7

The myth of the sphinx involves its riddle: If one couldn't answer it, one was killed.

What walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs during the day and 3 legs at night?

Answer 8

The Egyptian sphinx is an ancient iconic mythical creature usually comprised of a recumbent lion — animal with sacred solar associations — with a human head, usually that of a pharaoh.

more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx

Answer 9

I have found references as far back as the ASSyrians.A complex civilization that inexplicably vanished at their height