Sphinx

This article is about sphinxes in general. For the great sphinx statue at Giza, seeGreat Sphinx of Giza.For other uses, seeSphinx (disambiguation).

Asphinx(/sfɪŋks/SFINKS;Ancient Greek:σφίγξ,pronounced[spʰíŋks];Boeotian:φίξ,romanized:phíx,pronounced[pʰíːks];pl.sphinxesorsphinges) is amythical creaturewith the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle.

Sphinx

Atticred-figurepyxis,2nd half of the 5th century BC. FromNola,Italy.
Grouping	Legendary creatures
Similar entities	Griffin,Manticore,Cherub,Lamassu,Narasimha
Region	Persian, Egyptian, and Greek

InGreek tradition,the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, thehaunchesof a lion, and the wings of abird.According to Greek myth, she challenges those who encounter her to answer ariddle,and kills and eats them when they fail to solve the riddle.This deadly version of a sphinx appears in the myth and drama ofOedipus.

InEgyptian mythology,in contrast, the sphinx is typically depicted as a man (anandrosphinx(Ancient Greek:ανδρόσφιγξ)), and is seen as a benevolent representation of strength and ferocity, usually of apharaoh.Unlike Greek or Levantine/Mesopotamian ones, Egyptian sphinxes were not winged.

Both the Greek and Egyptian sphinxes were thought of as guardians, and statues of them often flank the entrances to temples.During theRenaissance,the sphinx enjoyed a major revival in European decorative art. During this period, images of the sphinx were initially similar to the ancient Egyptian version, but when later exported to other cultures, the sphinx was often conceived of quite differently, partly due to varied translations of descriptions of the originals, and partly through the evolution of the concept as it was integrated into other cultural traditions.

However, depictions of the sphinx are generally associated with grand architectural structures, such as royaltombsor religious temples.

Etymology

The wordsphinxcomes from theGreekΣφίγξ, associated byfolk etymologywith the verb σφίγγω (sphíngō), meaning "to squeeze", "to tighten up".This name may be derived from the fact that lions kill their prey by strangulation, biting the throat of prey and holding them down until they die. However, the historianSusan Wise Bauersuggests that the word "sphinx" was instead a Greek corruption of the Egyptian name "shesepankh", which meant "living image", and referred rather to thestatueof the sphinx, which was carved out of "living rock" (rock that was a contiguous part of the stony body of the Earth, shaped, but not cut away from its original source), than to the beast itself.

Egypt

TheGreat Sphinx of Giza,with theGreat Pyramidin the background

A lion-headed goddess is a lion-goddess in human form, while a royal sphinx, conversely, is a man who has assumed the form of a lion.Henry Fischer

The largest and most famous sphinx is theGreat Sphinx of Giza,situated on theGizaPlateau adjacent to theGreat Pyramids of Gizaon the west bank of theNile Riverand facing east (29°58′31″N31°08′15″E). The sphinx is located southeast of the pyramids. While the date of its construction is not known for certain, the general consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx bears the likeness of the pharaohKhafre,dating it to between 2600 and 2500 BC. However, a fringe minority of late 20th century geologists have claimed evidence of water erosion in and around the Sphinx enclosure which would prove that the Sphinx predates Khafre, at around 10,000 to 5000 BC, a claim that is sometimes referred to as theSphinx water erosion hypothesisbut which has little support among Egyptologists and contradicts other evidence.

What names their builders gave to thesestatuesis unknown. At the Great Sphinx site, a 1400 BC inscription on astelebelonging to the18th dynastypharaohThutmose IVlists the names of three aspects of the local sundeityof that period,Khepera–Rê–Atum.Many pharaohs had their heads carved atop the guardian statues for their tombs to show their close relationship with the powerful solar deitySekhmet,a lioness. Besides the Great Sphinx, other famous Egyptian sphinxes include one bearing the head of the pharaohHatshepsut,with her likeness carved ingranite,which is now in theMetropolitan Museum of Artin New York, and thealabasterSphinx of Memphis,currently located within the open-air museum at that site. The theme was expanded to form greatavenuesof 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 sphinxes with ram heads (Criosphinxes), believed to representAmon,were built inThebes,where his cult was strongest. At Karnak, each Criosphinx is fronted by a full-length statue of the pharaoh. The task of these sphinxes was to hold back the forces of evil.

The Great Sphinx has become an emblem of Egypt, frequently appearing on its stamps, coins, and official documents.

In March 2023, a limestone sphinx was discovered at theDendera Temple Complex.This sphinx, which is depicted with a slight grin and dimples, is thought to be made in the image of theRomanemperorClaudius.

Europe

La Granja,Spain, mid-18th century

The revivedManneristsphinx of the late 15th century is sometimes thought of as the "French sphinx". Her coiffed head is erect and she has the breasts of a young woman. Often she wears ear drops andpearlsas ornaments. Her body is naturalistically rendered as a recumbent lioness. Such sphinxes were revived when thegrottescheor "grotesque" decorations of the unearthedDomus AureaofNerowere brought to light in late 15th-century Rome, and she was incorporated into the classical vocabulary ofarabesquedesigns that spread throughout Europe in engravings during the 16th and 17th centuries. Sphinxes were included in the decoration of theloggiaof theVatican Palaceby the workshop ofRaphael(1515–20), which updated the vocabulary of the Romangrottesche.

The first appearances of sphinxes in French art are in theSchool of Fontainebleauin the 1520s and 1530s and she continues into theLate Baroquestyle of the FrenchRégence(1715–1723). From France, she spread throughout Europe, becoming a regular feature of the outdoors decorative sculpture of 18th-century palace gardens, as in theUpper Belvedere PalaceinVienna,Sanssouci ParkinPotsdam,La Granjain Spain,Branicki PalaceinBiałystok,or the lateRococoexamples in the grounds of the PortugueseQueluz National Palace(of perhaps the 1760s), withruffsand clothed chests ending with a little cape.

Caresses(1896) byFernand Khnopff,aSymbolistdepiction ofOedipusand the Sphinx

Sphinxes are a feature of theneoclassicalinterior decorations ofRobert Adamand his followers, returning closer to the undressed style of thegrottesche.They had an equal appeal to artists and designers of theRomanticismand subsequentSymbolismmovements in the 19th century. Most of these sphinxes alluded to the Greek sphinx and the myth ofOedipus,rather than the Egyptian, although they may not have wings.

The Decadent Movement,a European movement that was attributed to the notion of “decadence” around the 1890s,implores the main notion of finding beauty in the decline of civilization in the form of macabre or taboo subjectssuch as the sphinx. The motif of the sphinx can also be connected to the motif of the “femme fatale” figure in decadent texts in which a typically female-like figure or beast seduces and murders men. The “femme fatale” is used to establish a decline or decay ranging from perversion, death, prostitution, and other taboos of Victorian society.

Deborah Barker discusses, in “The Riddle of the Sphinx: Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’s The Story of Avis",how the painter Avis used the Sphinx as a representation of what women truly were in the nineteenth century. Avis thought that she could solve the prejudice that resulted from her gender and race through the Sphinx to show how she is an artist by tapping into the logic of Western Culture and visual recognition and classification. Napoleon on the other hand felt that the Sphinx was a representation of the empire he created, while Avis’ father Hegel Dobell thought that the Sphinx represented just an idea.

Oscar Wilde, a known Decadent writer, utilized this motif in his poem “The Sphinx”.The poem itself establishes a connection between the Sphinx and the French due to underlying social decline such as the French Empire collapsing.Wilde describes the sphinx as a sort of half-cat and half-woman that is connected to many mythological events, typically that of Egypt and Greece, as well as how the mysterious creature is surrounded by lust and death. The writer James Thomson, similarly to Wilde, also utilizes the motif of the sphinx in his poem “The City of Dreadful Night”.The poem revolves around an isolated and anxious man who runs throughout the city, his anxiety and fears taking on the personified image of a grandiose beast that has the makeup of a dragon and lion. While not inherently stated, the beast is likely that of a decadent form of a sphinx due to its appearance and grand nature.

Greece

In theBronze Age,the Hellenes had trade and cultural contacts with Egypt. Before the time thatAlexander the Greatoccupied Egypt, the Greek name,sphinx,was already applied to these statues.The historians and geographers of Greece such asHerodotuswrote extensively about Egyptian culture.

There was a singlesphinxin Greek mythology, a unique demon of destruction and bad luck.Apollodorusdescribes the sphinx as having a woman's face, the body and tail of a lion and the wings of a bird.Pliny the Eldermentions that Ethiopia produces plenty of sphinxes, with brown hair and breasts,corroborated by 20th-century archeologists.Statiusdescribes her as a winged monster, with pallid cheeks, eyes tainted with corruption, plumes clotted with gore and talons on livid hands.Sometimes, the wings are specified to be those of aneagle,and the tail to beserpent-headed.According toHesiod,the Sphinx was a daughter ofOrthrusand an unknown she—either theChimera,Echidna,orCeto.According to ApollodorusandLasus,she was a daughter of Echidna andTyphon.

The sphinx was the emblem of the ancient city-state ofChios,and appeared on seals and the obverse side of coins from the 6th century BC until the 3rd century AD.

Riddle of the Sphinx

"Riddle of the Sphinx" redirects here. For other uses, seeRiddle of the Sphinx (disambiguation).

The Sphinx is said to have guarded the entrance to the Greek city of Thebes, asking ariddleto travellers to allow them passage. The exact riddle asked by the Sphinx was not specified by early tellers of the myth, and was not standardized as the one given below until late in Greek history.

TheSphinx of Naxos,on its 12.5-meterIonic column,Delphi,560 BC (reconstitution)

It was said in late lore thatHeraorAressent the Sphinx from herAethiopianhomeland (the Greeks always remembered the foreign origin of the Sphinx) toThebesin Greece where she asked all passersby the most famous riddle in history: "Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?" She strangled and devoured anyone who could not answer.Oedipussolved the riddle by answering: "Man—who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and then uses a walking stick in old age".In some lesser accounts,there was a second riddle: "There are two sisters: one gives birth to the other and she, in turn, gives birth to the first. Who are the two sisters?" The answer is "day and night" (both words—ἡμέραandνύξ,respectively—are feminine in Ancient Greek). This second riddle is also found in a Gascon version of the myth and could be very ancient.

Bested at last, the Sphinx then threw herself from her high rock and died;or, in some versions Oedipus killed her.An alternative version tells that she devoured herself.In both cases, Oedipus can therefore be recognized as a "liminal"or threshold figure, helping effect the transition between the old religious practices, represented by the death of the Sphinx, and the rise of the new,Olympiangods.

The riddle in popular culture

InJean Cocteau's retelling of the Oedipus legend,The Infernal Machine,the Sphinx tells Oedipus the answer to the riddle in order to kill herself so that she did not have to kill any more, 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 andAnubisascend 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.Sigmund Freuddescribes "the question of where babies come from" as a riddle of the Sphinx.

Numerous riddle books use the Sphinx in their title or illustrations.

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  Funerary stele, 530 BC,Greece
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  Limestone funerary stele (shaft) surmounted by two sphinxes.Greece, 5th century BC.
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  Marble capital and finial in the form of a sphinx, 530 BC
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  Sphinxes on theLycian sarcophagus of Sidon(430–420 BC)

Romania

Sfinxulnatural rock formation in the Bucegi Mountains

Sfinxulis a natural rock formation in theBucegi Natural Parkwhich is in the Bucegi Mountains of Romania. This rock formation is named for its resemblance to the Sphinx of Giza, and is located at an altitude of 2,216 metres (7,270 feet) within the Babele complex of rock formations.

Asia

Buddhist sphinx on astupagateway,Bharhut,1st century BC

A composite mythological being with the body of a lion and the head of a human is present in the traditions, mythology and art ofSouthandSoutheast Asia.Variously known aspuruṣamr̥ga(Sanskrit, "human-animal" ),purushamirugam(Tamil, "human-animal" ),naravirala(Sanskrit, "human-cat" ) in India, or asnara-simha(Sanskrit, "human-lion" ) in Sri Lanka,manussihaormanutthiha(Pali, "human-lion" ) in Myanmar, andnorasingha(from Pali, "human-lion", a variation of the Sanskrit "nara-simha" ) orthep norasingha( "man-lion deity" ), ornora nairin Thailand. Although, just like the "nara-simha", she/he has a head of a lion and the body of a human.

In contrast to the sphinxes in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece, of which the traditions largely have been lost due to the discontinuity of the civilization,the traditions related to the "Asian sphinxes" are very much alive today. The earliest artistic depictions of "sphinxes" from the South Asian subcontinent are to some extent influenced byHellenistic artand writings.These hail from the period when Buddhist art underwenta phase of Hellenistic influence.Numerous sphinxes can be seen on the gateways ofBharhutstupa, dating to the 1st century B.C.

In South India, the "sphinx" is known aspuruṣamr̥ga(Sanskrit) orpurushamirugam(Tamil), meaning "human-animal". It is found depicted in sculptural art in temples and palaces where it serves anapotropaicpurpose, just as the "sphinxes" in other parts of the ancient world.It is said by the tradition, to take away the sins of the devotees when they enter a temple and to ward off evil in general. It is therefore often found in a strategic position on thegopuramor temple gateway, or near the entrance of thesanctum sanctorum.

Male purushamriga or Indian sphinx guarding the entrance of the Shri Shiva Nataraja temple inChidambaram

Thepuruṣamr̥gaplays a significant role in daily as well as yearly ritual of South IndianHindutemples. In the Shodhasha-Upakaara (or sixteen honors) ritual, performed between one and six times at significant sacred moments through the day, it decorates one of the lamps of the Deepaaradhana or lamp ceremony. And in several temples thepuruṣamr̥gais also one of thevahanaor vehicles of the deity during the processions of theBrahmotsavaor festival.

InKanyakumaridistrict, in the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent, during the night ofMaha Shivaratri,devotees run 75 kilometres while visiting and worshiping at twelve Shiva temples. This Shiva Ottam or Running for Shiva is performed in commemoration of the story of the race between the Purushamirugam andBhima,one of the Pandavas of the Hindu EpicMahabharata.

The Indian conception of a sphinx that comes closest to the classic Greaco-Roman idea is the Sharabha and Gandabherunda, two mythical creatures, part lion, part human, part mammal and part bird, and the form ofSharabhathat godShivatook on and fought with the godVishnuasNarasimhaand Shiva as Sharabha was killed by Vishnu asGandabherundain the form of Narashima when Narashima killedHiranyakashipu.

InSri LankaandIndia,the sphinx is known asnarasimhaor human-lion. As a sphinx, it has the body of a lion and the head of a human being, and is not to be confused withNarasimha,the fourth incarnation of the deityVishnu;thisavataraor incarnation of Vishnu has a human body and the head of a lion and Vishnu as Narashima killed Hiranyakashipu. The "sphinx" narasimha is part of the Buddhist tradition and functions as a guardian of the northern direction and also was depicted on banners.

Burmese depiction of the Manussiha

In Burma (Myanmar), the sphinx-like statue, with a human head and two lion hindquarters, is known asManussiha(manuthiha). It is depicted on the corners of Buddhiststupas,and its legends tell how it was created by Buddhist monks to protect a new-born royal baby from being devoured byogresses.

Nora Nair, Norasingha and Thep Norasingha are three of the names under which the "sphinx" is known inThailand.They are depicted as upright walking beings with the lower body of a lion or deer, and the upper body of a human. Often they are found as female-male pairs. Here, too, the sphinx serves a protective function. It also is enumerated among the mythological creatures that inhabit the ranges of the sacred mountainHimapan.

Japanese Literature

Giorgio Amitrano'sEchoes of Ancient Greek Myths in Murakami Haruki's novels and in Other Works of Contemporary Japanese Literatureexplores howHaruki Murakami'sKafka on the Shoreshare thematic elements of decadence with Oedipus' myth and parallels the protagonist's journey to self-discovery. The Sphinx motif present within the novel is established through the enigmatic creature of Murakami's design, Oshima: a mysterious, omnipotent being who has the protagonist grapple with the concept of a meaningless existence in turn of searching for authenticity by disconnecting from societal conventions of wealth and status. He tests the durability of character of the novel's protagonists through a series of tests that may challenge their perception of truth regarding their existence.

Burmese Literature

Lowell Edmunds'Oedipus in Burmais an explorative look on the Oedipus' myth in Burmese literature and culture. The folktalePauk and the Dragonuses similar motifs from the Greek myth to explore Pauk's, the protagonist, road to destiny and fulfilling the quests needed to defeat the dragon: the Sphinx motif. Using intelligence, courage, and determination, Pauk defeats the dragon but not before facing the consequences of the knowledge he acquired on his journey. Decadent themes of fate, destiny, tragedy, mystery, and identity present themselves in the Burmese adaptations of Greek myths, in this case, it is Oedipus and the Sphinx.

Freemasonry

Sphinx adopted as an emblem inMasonicarchitecture

The sphinx imagery has historically been adopted intoMasonicarchitecture and symbolism.

Among the Egyptians, sphinxes were placed at the entrance of the temples to guard their mysteries, by warning those who penetrated within that they should conceal a knowledge of them from the uninitiated.Champollionsaid that the sphinx became successively the symbol of each of the gods. The placement of the sphinxes expressed the idea that all the gods were hidden from the people, and that the knowledge of them, guarded in the sanctuaries, was revealed to initiates only.

As a Masonic emblem, the sphinx has been adopted 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.

Similar hybrid creatures

With feline features

• Gopaitioshah– The PersianGopatorGopaitioshahis another creature that is similar to the Sphinx, being a winged bull or lion with human face.The Gopat have been represented in ancient art of Iran since late second millennium BC, and was a common symbol for dominant royal power in ancient Iran. Gopats were common motifs in the art ofElamiteperiod,Luristan,North and North West region of Iran inIron Age,andAchaemenid art,and can be found in texts such as theBundahishn,theDadestan-i Denig,theMenog-i Khrad,as well as in collections of tales, such as theMatikan-e yusht faryanand in its Islamic replication, theMarzubannama.
• Löwenmensch figurine– The 32,000-year-oldAurignacianLöwenmensch figurine,also known as "lion-human" is the oldest knownanthropomorphicstatue, discovered in theHohlenstein-Stadel,a German cave in 1939.
• Manticore– TheManticore(Early Middle Persian:MardyakhororMartikhwar,means: Man-eater) is a Persian legendary hybrid creature and another similar creature to the sphinx.
• Narasimha–Narasimha( "human-lion" ) is an incarnation (Avatara) ofVishnuinHinduismin theDashavataraof Vishnu who takes the form of half-man/half-Asiatic lion,having a human torso and lower body, but with a lion-like face and claws and in this avatara, Vishnu killedHiranyakashipuas Narashima and saved the world from chaos inHindu Mythology.

Without feline features

• In ancientAssyria,bas-reliefs ofshedubulls with the crowned bearded heads of kings guarded the entrances of temples.
• Many Greek mythological creatures who are archaic survivals of previous mythologies with respect to the classical Olympian mythology, like thecentaurs,are similar to the Sphinx.

Gallery

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  Maned sphinx ofAmenemhat III.12th Dynasty, c. 1800 BC. State Museum of Egyptian Art, Munich.
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  Egyptian sphinx from Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli. 1st century AD. State Museum of Egyptian Art, Munich.
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  Column base in the shape of a double sphinx. From Sam'al. 8th century BC. Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul.
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  Hittite sphinx. Basalt. 8th century BC. From Sam'al. Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul.
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  Winged sphinx from the palace ofDarius the GreatduringPersian EmpireatSusa(480 BC)
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  Achaemenid sphinx fromHalicarnassus,capital ofCaria,355 BC. Found inBodrum Castle,but possibly from theMausoleum at Halicarnassus.
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  Head from a female sphinx, c. 1876–1842 BC,Brooklyn Museum
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  TheGreat Sphinx of Gizain 1858
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  Typical Egyptian sphinx with a human head (Museo Egizio,Turin)
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  Sphinx of Egyptian pharaohHatshepsutwith unusual ear and ruff features, 1503–1482
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  Ancient Greek sphinxfromDelphi
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  TheIberianSphinx of Agostc. 570-545 BC, one of the many sphinxes found in Spain
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  3000-year-old sphinxes were imported from Egypt to embellish public spaces inSaint Petersburgand otherEuropeancapitals.
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  Park SanssouciinPotsdam
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  Queluzwingless rococo sphinx
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  Classic Régence garden Sphinx in lead, Château Empain, theParc d'Enghien,Belgium
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  Park Schönbusch inAschaffenburg,Bavaria,1789–90
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  Ingres,Oedipus and the Sphinx,1808, 1827
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  Oedipus and the SphinxbyGustave Moreau,1864
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  Sphinx at Plaza de los Emperadores (Parque de El Capricho,Madrid)
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  Marble sphinx on acavettocapital, Attic, c. 580–575 BC
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  The Sphinx of Adi Gramaten,Eritrea
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  Wings of sphinxes from the Thinissut sanctuary, c. 1st century AD (Nabeul Museum,Tunisia)
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  An early Egyptian sphinx, QueenHetepheres IIfrom the Fourth Dynasty (Cairo Museum)
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  Picture of an Iranian Elamite Gopat on a seal, currently in theNational Museum of Iran
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  An Iranian Luristan Bronze in the form of a Gopat, currently in theCleveland Museum of Art
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  Picture of a Gopat on a golden rhyton from Amarlou, Iran, currently in theNational Museum of Iran
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  Sculpture model of an Egyptian sphinx. Late Period, 664-332 BC. From Egypt. Neues Museum, Berlin.

See also

• Hybrid creatures in mythology
• List of hybrid creatures in mythology

Similar hybrid creatures

• Lupul Dacicor the head of a wolf with the body of a snake, the sacred symbol of the Dacians, the ancient inhabitants of modern Romania.
• Anzû(older reading: Zû), Mesopotamian monster
• Chimera,Greek mythological hybrid monster
• CentaurandIchthyocentaur,Greek horse and human hybrid, or horse, human, fish hybrid
• Cockatrice,snake with rooster's head and feet and bat's wings
• Dragon,European and East Asian reptile-like mythical creature
• Griffinor griffon, lion-bird hybrid
• Harpy,Greco-Roman mythological bird monster with woman's face
• Siren,Greco-Roman mythical creature with the combined features of a woman and bird, often a woman's head and breasts and a bird's body
• Lamassu,Assyrian deity, bull/lion-eagle-human hybrid
• Hippogryph,half eagle, half horse
• Manticore,Persian monster with a lion's body and a humanoid head.
• Nue,Japanese legendary creature
• Pegasus,winged stallion in Greek mythology
• Phoenix,self-regenerating bird in Greek mythology
• Pixiuor Pi Yao, Chinese mythical creature
• Qilin,Chinese/East Asian mythical hybrid creature
• Satyr,orFaun,a Greek or Roman mythical creature that is half human half goat
• Sharabha,Hindu mythology: lion-bird hybrid
• Simurgh,Iranian mythical flying creature
• Sirin,Russian mythological creature, half-woman half-bird
• Snow Lion,Tibetan mythological celestial animal
• Yali,Hindu mythological lion-elephant-horse hybrid
• Ziz,giant griffin-like bird in Jewish mythology
• Komainuto compare its use in Japanese culture
• Chinthesimilar lion statues in Burma, Laos and Cambodia
• Shisasimilar lion statues in the Ryukyu Islands
• Nianto compare with a similar but horned (unicorn) mythical beast
• Haetaeto compare with similar lion-like statues inKorea.

References

• Caldwell, Richard,Hesiod's Theogony,Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company (1 June 1987).ISBN978-0-941051-00-2.
• Clay, Jenny Strauss,Hesiod's Cosmos,Cambridge University Press, 2003.ISBN978-0-521-82392-0.
• Gantz, Timothy,Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources,Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes:ISBN978-0-8018-5360-9(Vol. 1),ISBN978-0-8018-5362-3(Vol. 2).
• Kallich, Martin. "Oedipus and the Sphinx."Oedipus: Myth and Drama.N.p.: Western, 1968. N. pag. Print.
• Most, G.W.,Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia,Edited and translated by Glenn W. Most,Loeb Classical LibraryNo. 57, Cambridge, Massachusetts,Harvard University Press,2018.ISBN978-0-674-99720-2.Online version at Harvard University Press.
• Stewart, Desmond. Pyramids and the Sphinx. [S.l.]:Newsweek,U.S., 72. Print.
• Taheri, Sadreddin (2013)."Gopat (Sphinx) and Shirdal (Gryphon) in the Ancient Middle East".نشریه هنرهای زیبا- هنرهای تجسمی.17(4(زمستان 1391)). Tehran: Honarhay-e Ziba Journal, Vol. 17, No. 4.doi:10.22059/jfava.2013.30063.

Further reading

• Griffith, Francis Llewellyn;Mitchell, John Malcolm (1911)."Sphinx".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 25 (11th ed.). pp. 662–663.
• Dessenne, André.La Sphinx: Étude iconographique(in French). De Boccard, 1957.

External links

• Sphinx Head Found in Greek Tomb