Greek Sphinx - Short History

Sphinx, a mythological creature, has been used by ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans among other civilizations.

In Greek representations, Sphinx has a female head, eagle’s wings, the body of a lioness and is a merciless creature. It has been used, as the Egyptian one, as a guardian of sacred temples, royal tombs and passages and are depicted in many ancient Greek vases.

A very famous Sphinx was the sphinx sent as a punishment by gods to the city of Thebes, asking the same riddle to anyone who passed by: "What goes on four legs at dawn, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"
Those who could not find the answer to her riddle were devoured by her. It was only Oedipus that found the answer to this riddle, making the Sphinx so frustrated that she fell from a high cliff and disappeared in the abyss below.

The couple of sculpted sphinxes found in the Amphipolis tomb during the 2014 excavations, are facing towards the entrance of the tomb, and have a capital on their head, similar to the capital of Caryatids’ heads.

(Photo: Ancient Gold sphinx 6th-5th BC century)