This is a picture of a Greek sphinx.
- THE SPHINX was a female monster with the body of a lion, the breast and head of a woman, eagle's wings and, according to some, a serpent-headed tail. Daughter of Echidna and Orthus.
- She was sent by the gods to plague the town of Thebes.
- There she preyed on the youths of the land, devouring all those who failed to solve her riddle.
- Oidipous accepted the challenge, and when he solved the Sphinx's riddle, she cast herself off a mountainside in despair and in accordance with an oracle declaring the terms of her demise.
- The riddle- "What goes on four legs at dawn, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"
- The Answer- "Man, who as a baby crawls on four legs, then walks on two legs as an adult and in old age walks with a cane as his third leg..."
- The Roman name of Sphinx is "Sfinge"
- The name 'sphinx' is derived from the Greek "sphingo", which means "to strangle".
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