Transcript Sphinx - apenglishp2

Nicole Childs
Physical Characteristics

 Head of a human
 Body of a lion
 Wings of an eagle
 Serpent-headed tail
 Always a women in
Greek Mythology.
 Is male in Egypt
 Often viewed as a
vicious guardian.
Background

 Greece was in contact
with Egypt.
 Sphinx (Σφίγξ) comes
from the Greek verb
σφίγγω (sphíngō).
 “to squeeze”
 Riddle of the Sphinx not
standardized until later.
 Sphinx’s found in many
cultures.
 Oldest Sphinx from
Turkey (9,500 B.C.E)
Legend

 Daughter of Orthus/the
Chimera/Echidna/Typhon.
 Demon of misfortune and bad
luck.
 Sent by Hera or Ares to Thebes.
 Kreon offered the throne to
those that could solve her
riddle.
 Told a riddle to travellers.
 Those unable to answer were
killed.
 Some accounts say it asked two
riddles.
 When the riddle was answered
correctly by Oedipus, it threw
itself off a cliff.
 Or it devoured itself.
Can You Solve the
Sphinx's Riddle?

Which creature in the morning goes
on four legs, at mid-day on two, and
in the evening upon three, and the
more legs it has, the weaker it be?
Man
There are two sisters: one
gives birth to the other and
she, in turn, gives birth to
the first.
Day and Night
Oedipus

 Bested the Sphinx by
answering the riddle.
 Oedipus made King
after solving the riddle.
 Riddle of the Sphinx
foreshadowing to
Oedipus’ fate.
 Cane
 Sphinx sent by the
gods.
 Sphinx symbol of bad
luck.
Other

 Her homeland is
Ethiopia.
 Sphinxes were often
used by Greek artists
and architects.
 The Egyptian Sphinx is
almost always lying
down.
 Kreon’s son was killed
by the Sphinx
 The Sphinx’s death
followed that predicted
by an oracle.
 The Sphinx learned the
riddle from the Muses.
Sources

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx
 https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/mda
lingh/Filemanager_Public_Files/Mythology/Perse
us%202007/Sphinx.pdf
 http://sahilachangebringer.blogspot.com/2010/12
/magical-thinking.html
 http://www.siddeley.com/sphinx.html
 http://thepoliticizer.com/blog/2010/09/29/stormfrom-oedipus-to-obama/