Sphinx (Σφίγξ) spinx
When you hear of the sphinx the first image
in your head would probably be the one in
egypt with the broken nose.
Well, yes that is definitely a sphinx but
let me tell you about the Greek version of
the sphinx.
The sphinx is a monster with the head and
sometimes torso of a woman, the body of a
lioness, the wings of an eagle and has a serpent-headed
tail.
There's a few stories of what the sphinx does
but what is common is that it happened in
the Greek city of Thebes and she would ask
people who comes across her to solve a riddle.
Those who couldn't answer the riddle correctly
would be devoured or killed by her.
Early stories of the sphinx never told what
her riddle was but in later stories, there's
one riddle that became so well known everyone
knows the answer to it.
The riddle goes something like this:
"What is the creature that walks on four legs
in the morning, two legs at noon and three
in the evening??"
The famous answer would be "Humans" because
humans crawled on all fours as a baby, walked
on two feet as an adult and walks with a walking
stick in old age.
But thinking about it, that could have been
wrong.
I mean humans literally do start from zero
from not being able to walk and there's no
guarantee you'll need a walking stick in old
age.
So what do you think would be the real answer?
