The Bestiary

SPHINX

Sphinx

The Sphinx has the body of a lion and the head of a woman, though Egyptian Sphinxes are sometimes male. She poses riddles to travelers: 'What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?' Those who answer incorrectly, she devours; those who answer correctly pass safely. Oedipus solved her riddle - Man - and the Sphinx threw herself from her cliff. The Great Sphinx of Giza guards the pyramids, facing the rising sun, asking its silent question of eternity. The Sphinx represents mysteries that guard themselves, knowledge that destroys those unworthy of it. Her riddle is the first test of wisdom: know thyself.