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|AKA =

|Similar_creatures = [[Griffin]]

|Mythology = EurasianAsian, Egyptian, Greek

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A '''sphinx''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Σφίγξ /''sphinx''/. [[Aeolic Greek|Bœotian]]: Φίξ ''/Phix'') is a [[mythical creature]] with, as a minimum, the body of a [[lion]] and a human head.

In Greek tradition, it has the haunches of a lion, sometimes with the wings of a great bird, and the face of a womanhuman. SheIt is mythicised as treacherous and merciless. Those who cannot answer herits [[riddle]] suffer a fate typical in such mythological stories, as they are killed and eaten by this ravenous monster.<ref>http://people.hsc.edu/drjclassics/texts/Oedipus/sphinx.shtm</ref> This deadly version of a sphinx, appears in the myth and drama of Oedipus.<ref>Kallich, Martin. "Oepidus and the Sphinx." Oepidus: Myth and Drama. N.p.: Western, 1968. N. pag. Print.</ref> Unlike the Greek sphinx which was a woman, the Egyptian sphinx is typically shown as a man (an '''androsphinx'''). In addition, the Egyptian sphinx was viewed as benevolent, but having a ferocious strength similar to the malevolent Greek version and were both thought of as a guardian often flanking the entrances to temples.<ref>Stewart, Desmond. Pyramids and the Sphinx. [S.l.]: Newsweek, U.S., 72. Print.</ref>

In European decorative art, the sphinx enjoyed a major revival during the [[Renaissance]]. Later, the sphinx image, something very similar to the original Ancient Egyptian concept, was exported into many other cultures, albeit often interpreted quite differently due to translations of descriptions of the originals and the evolution of the concept in relation to other cultural traditions.

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==Egyptian sphinxes==<!-- This section is linked from [[Great Sphinx of Giza]] -->

The largest and most famous sphinx is the [[Great Sphinx of Giza]], sitedsituated at the [[Giza]] Plateau adjacent to the [[Great Pyramids of Giza]] on the west bank of the [[Nile River]] and facing due east ({{coord|29|58|31|N|31|08|15|E|}}). The sphinx is located in the north and below the pyramids. Although the date of its construction is uncertain, the head of the Great Sphinx now is believed to be that of the pharaoh [[Khafra]].

What names their builders gave to these [[statue]]s is not known. At the Great Sphinx site, the inscription on a [[stele]] by [[Thutmose IV]] in 1400 BCE, lists the names of three aspects of the local sun deity of that period, ''[[Khepera]]–[[Rê]]–[[Atum]]''. The inclusion of these figures in tomb and [[Egyptian temple|temple]] complexes quickly became traditional and many pharaohs had their heads carved atop the guardian statues for their tombs to show their close relationship with the powerful solar deity, [[Sekhmet]], a lioness. Other famous Egyptian sphinxes include one bearing the head of the pharaoh [[Hatshepsut]], with her likeness carved in [[granite]], which is now in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York, and the [[alabaster]] [[sphinx of Memphis]], [[Memphis, Egypt]], currently located within the open-air museum at that site. The theme was expanded to form great [[Avenue (landscape)|avenues]] of guardian sphinxes lining the approaches to tombs and temples as well as serving as details atop the posts of flights of stairs to very grand complexes. Nine hundred with ram heads, representing [[Amun|Amon]], were built in [[Thebes (Egypt)|Thebes]], where his cult was strongest.

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===The Riddle of the Sphinx===<!-- This section is linked from [[Great Sphinx of Giza]] -->

[[File:Human headed winged bull facing.jpg|thumb|right|[[Assyria]]n [[Lamassu]] dated 721 BC Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago.]]

[[File:Marble Sphinx Acropolis Museum 632.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Marble Sphinx dated 540 BC Acropolis Museum, Athens]]

The Sphinx is said to have guarded the entrance to<!--any other area needs to be made specific--> the Greek city of Thebes, and to have asked a [[riddle]] of travellers to allow them passage. The exact riddle asked by the Sphinx was not specified by early tellers of the stories, and was not standardized as the one given below until late in Greek history.<ref>{{cite book|last= Edmunds|first= Lowell|title=The Sphinx in the Oedipus Legend|year=1981|publisher=Hain|___location=Königstein im Taunus|isbn=3-445-02184-8}}</ref>

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In [[Jean Cocteau]]'s retelling of the Oedipus legend, ''[[The Infernal Machine (play)|The Infernal Machine]]'', the Sphinx tells Oedipus the answer to the riddle, to kill herself so that she did not have to kill anymore, and also to make him love her. He leaves without ever thanking her for giving him the answer to the riddle. The scene ends when the Sphinx and [[Anubis]] ascend back to the heavens.

There are mythic, anthropological, psychoanalytic, and parodic interpretations of the Riddle of the Sphinx, and of Oedipus's answer to it. Numerous riddle books use the Sphinx in their title or illustrations.<ref>Regier, ''Book of the Sphinx'', chapter 4.</ref>

[[Michael Maier]] in his book, the Atalanta Fugiens (1617)<ref>{{cite book|last=Maier|first=Michael|others=trans. Peter Branwin|title=Atalanta Fugiens|publisher=Johann Theodor de Bry|year=1617}}</ref> writes the following remark about the Sphinx's riddle, in which he states that the solution is the [[Philosopher's Stone]]:

<blockquote>Sphinx is indeed reported to have had many Riddles, but this offered to Oedipus was the chief, "What is that which in the morning goeth upon four feet; upon two feet in the afternoon; and in the Evening upon three?" What was answered by Oedipus is not known. But they who interpret concerning the Ages of Man are deceived. For a Quadrangle of Four Elements are of all things first to be considered, from thence we come to the Hemisphere having two lines, a Right and a Curve, that is, to the White Luna; from thence to the Triangle which consists of Body, Soul and Spirit, or Sol, Luna and Mercury. Hence [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi|Rhasis]] in his Epistles, "The Stone," says he, "is a Triangle in its essence, a Quadrangle in its quality."</blockquote>

<blockquote><poem>

Sphinx is indeed reported to have had many Riddles, but this offered to Oedipus was the chief,

"What is that which in the morning goeth upon four feet; upon two feet in the

afternoon; and in the Evening upon three?"

What was answered by Oedipus is not known. But they who interpret concerning

the Ages of Man are deceived. For a Quadrangle of Four Elements are of all

things first to be considered, from thence we come to the Hemisphere having two

lines, a Right and a Curve, that is, to the White Luna; from thence to the Triangle

which consists of Body, Soul and Spirit, or Sol, Luna and Mercury. Hence [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi|Rhasis]]

in his Epistles, "The Stone," says he, "is a Triangle in its essence, a Quadrangle in

its quality."

</poem></blockquote>

==Sphinxes in South and Southeast Asia==

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[[File:Sphinx at Salt Lake Masonic Temple, Utah.JPG|thumb|248px|right|Sphinx adopted as an emblem in [[Freemasonry|Mason]]ic architecture]]The sphinx image also has been adopted into [[Freemasonry|Mason]]ic architecture. Among the Egyptians, sphinxes were placed at the entrance of the temple to guard the mysteries, by warning those who penetrated within that they should conceal a knowledge of them from the uninitiated. [[Jean-François Champollion|Champollion]] says that the sphinx became successively the symbol of each of the gods, by which portal suggests that the priests intended to express the idea that all the gods were hidden from the people, and that the knowledge of them, guarded in the sanctuaries, was revealed to the initiates only. As a Masonic emblem, the sphinx has been adopted in its Egyptian character as a symbol of mystery, and as such often is found as a decoration sculptured in front of Masonic temples, or engraved at the head of Masonic documents. It cannot, however, be properly called an ancient, recognized symbol of the order. Its introduction has been of comparatively recent date, and rather as a symbolic decoration than as a symbol of any particular dogma.

==Sphinxes in popular culture==

*In the book [[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]], one of the obstacles the title character faces inside a maze is a sphinx, who poses him a riddle which he must answer to pass. This scene does not appear in the film version.

*In the 2009 film ''[[Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)|Sherlock Holmes]]'', a secret society called the Temple of the Four Orders views the sphinx as "a door to another dimension, a gateway to immeasurable power." This version of the sphinx is described as having four parts: a lion's feet, an ox's tail, an eagle's wings, and a man's head.

*In the [[Discworld]] novel, ''[[Pyramids (novel)|Pyramids]]'', the central character, Teppic - newly crowned [[pharaoh]] of [[Discworld_geography#Djelibeybi|Djelibeybi]] - finds himself (and his [[camel]], the greatest mathematician in the world) in an [[alternate dimension]] that is guarded by a Sphinx who asks him a [[riddle]]. Teppic confuses the Sphinx by pointing out [[logic|logical flaws]] in the riddle and is able to pass. The Sphinx eventually figures out that it has been tricked and prepares to chase Teppic, but the camel figures a way out of the alternate dimension before he is caught.

*The Sphinx is the mascot of [[Hollywood Pictures]].

==Similar creatures==

*The 32,000-year-old [[Aurignacian]] Löwenfrau Goddess is the oldest known [[anthropomorphic]] statue. Previously known as the [[Lion man]], she has a human female body and a lioness head.

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File:Foreign Affairs Building of Canada.jpg|The [[Lester B. Pearson Building]] in [[Ottawa]] was designed to resemble the Sphinx.

File:Marble sphinx on a cavetto capital.jpg|Marble sphinx on a cavetto capital, Attic, ca. 580-575 BC

File:Sphinx_guinle_1Sphinx guinle 1.JPG|Sphinx guarding the entrance of [[:pt:Parque Eduardo Guinle|Parque Eduardo Guinle]].

File:Sphinx_guinle_2Sphinx guinle 2.JPG|Sphinx guarding the entrance of [[:pt:Parque Eduardo Guinle|Parque Eduardo Guinle]].

</gallery></center>

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==External links==

* [http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/51921/the-sphinx-totally-random-trivia The Sphinx: Totally Random Trivia] - slideshow by ''[[Life magazine]]''

=Comparazioni con la neurobiologia=