Sphinx

Name: Sphinx

Features: Head of a woman, body of a lion with wings and a serpent’s tail

Source: Egyptian and Greek Mythology

Habitat: Mt. Phicium near the city of Thebes, Greece

The Sphinx had the head of a woman, with the body of a lion, wings of an eagle and a serpent for a tail.

In some accounts this monstrous beast has the body of a wolf or the head of a ram with massive horns.

This powerful and horrifying creature was the daughter of Typhon. She was sent to terrorize the citizens and stop anyone from entering or leaving the city of Thebes.

This horrendous monster was impossible to physically defeat but answering one of her riddles could be feasible but also prove to be a very complicated method to achieve passage or victory.

The famous riddle that stumped the Greeks for many years was “What animal walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening?”

Numerous people who attempted to solve this riddle were killed and devoured by this impatient and vicious beast. Oedipus, one day answered this riddle with “Man”.

Immediately upon hearing the correct answer to this famous riddle, this gruesome creature leapt to her death.

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