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[[Image:pyramidSphinx.jpg|250px|thumb|The Great Sphinx with Khephren's Pyramid in the background.]]The '''Sphinx''' is an ancient [[egypt|Egyptian]] monument believed to have been built in about 2500 BC, around the same time as the [[pyramid]]s; it is part of the complex of structures related to Khephren's second pyramid at Giza.  The Sphinx is a statue that consists of a figure of a lion's body surmounted with a human head.  

'''Sphinx''' (Greek: Σφίγξ) refers to a figure in mythology depicted as a human-headed lion, of which the most famous image is the [[Great Sphinx]] of the Giza Plateau, [[Egypt]].  

The current state of the sphinx is showing its age. Thousands of years have made the statue weather worn, and the nose is now mostly broken off. The climate of the region, however, has kept the statue in remarkable shape despite its antiquity.  

According to Greek mythology, the sphinx was placed by Hera at Thebes to ask passersby a riddle: "Which creature goes about on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"  Anyone who failed to solve the riddle was killed and devoured; [[Oedipus]] correctly answered that the creature of the riddle was man in his three stages of life: as a baby, an adult, and as an old man with a cane.  Upon hearing the answer the sphinx killed herself.

 

The Greek play of ''Oedipus Rex'' features the sphinx as a creature who tests the titular character with a riddle. The riddle of the sphinx has since become a common trope in various forms.

The Greek play of ''Oedipus Rex'' features the sphinx as a creature who tests the titular character with a riddle. The riddle of the sphinx has since become a common trope in various forms.

[[Category:Statues]]

[[Category:Statues]]

[[Category:Egypt]]

[[Category:Mythology]]

[[Category:Tourist Attractions]]