Sphinx

 

(sfĭngks) , mythical beast of ancient Egypt, frequently symbolizing the pharaoh as an incarnation of the sun god Ra. The sphinx was represented in sculpture usually in a recumbent position with the head of a man and the body of a lion, although some were constructed with rams' heads and others with hawks' heads. Thousands of sphinxes were built in ancient Egypt; the most famous is the Great Sphinx at Giza, a colossal figure sculptured out of natural rock, near the pyramid of Khafre. It was considered by the ancients one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Sphinxes, however, were not peculiar to Egypt; represented in various shapes and forms, they were common throughout the ancient Middle East and Greece. In Greek mythology and art the Sphinx was a winged monster with the head and breasts of a woman and the body of a lion. In the legend of Oedipus she acts as a destructive agent of the gods, posing the riddle of the three ages of man: “What walks on four feet in the morning, on two at noon, and on three in the evening?” She killed all who failed to answer her question until Oedipus solved the riddle by saying, “Man crawls on all fours as a baby, walks upright in the prime of life, and uses a staff in old age.” The Sphinx then killed herself.

Sphinx is an image of a recumbent lion with the head of a ram, of a falcon or of a person, invented by the Egyptians of the Old Kingdom, and is a cultural import in Greek mythology.

Egyptian sphinx

The sphinxes of Egypt are mythical creatures, seen as guardians in the Egyptian statuary. Sphinxes are depicted in one of these three forms:

• Androsphinx - body of lion with head of person;
• Criosphinx - body of lion with head of ram;
• Hierocosphinx - body of lion with head of falcon or hawk.

The largest and most famous is the Great Sphinx of Giza, sited on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile River, facing due east ( 29°58′31″N, 31°08′15″E). The face of the Great Sphinx is believed to be the head of the pharaoh Khafra (often known by the Greek version of his name, Chephren) or possibly that of his son, the Pharaoh Djedefra, which would date its construction from the fourth dynasty (2723 BC–2563 BC). Solstices, as seen from the Sphinx, have dictated the choice of the locations of the three large pyramids of Giza, see Une idole pré-pharaonique: la tête du Sphinx.

The inscription on a stele in the Great Sphinx dates it from one thousand years after the carving of the Sphinx,^[1] gives three names of the sun: Kheperi - Re - Atum. The Arabic name of the Great Sphinx, Abu al-Hôl, translates as "Father of Terror". The Greek name "Sphinx" was applied to it in the Antiquity. But unlike the Greek mythological creature, it has the head of a man, not of a woman.

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, currently located within the open-air museum at that site; and the ram-headed sphinxes (in Greek, criosphinxes) representing the god Amon, in Thebes, of which there were originally some nine hundred. What name or names the builders gave to the statues is unknown.

Greek sphinx

There was a single Sphinx in Greek mythology, a unique demon of destruction and bad luck, according to Hesiod a daughter of Echidna and of Orthrus or, according to others, of Typhon and Echidna — all of these chthonic figures.

She was represented in vase-painting and bas-reliefs most often seated upright rather than recumbent, as a winged lion with a woman's head; or she was a woman with the paws, claws and breasts of a lion, a serpent's tail and eagle wings. Hera or Ares sent the Sphinx from her Ethiopian homeland (the Greeks remembered the Sphinx's foreign origin) to Thebes where, in Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus, she asks all passersby history's most famous riddle: "Which creature in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?" She devoured anyone unable to answer.

The word "sphinx" comes from the Greek Σφιγξ — Sphigx, apparently from the verb σφιγγω — sphiggo, meaning "to strangle" (note that the ng and nx sounds were written in ancient Greek as a double gammas. This may be her proper name, but The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology states that her given name was Φιξ — Phix.) Oedipus solved the riddle: man — he crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and walks with a cane in old age. Bested at last, the Sphinx then threw herself from her high rock and died. An alternative version tells that she devoured herself. The exact riddle asked by the Sphinx was not specified by early tellers of the story and was not standardized as the one given above until much later in Greek history.^[2] Thus Oedipus can be recognized as a liminal or "threshold" figure, helping effect the transition between the old religious practices, represented by the Sphinx, and new, Olympian ones.

Sphinx in South and South-East Asia

A composite mythological being with the body of a lion and the head of a human being is present in the traditions, mythology and art of South and South-East Asia^[3][4] Variously known as purushamriga (Sanskrit=human-beast), purushamirukam (Tamil=human-beast), naravirala (Sanskrit=man-cat) in India. Or as nara-simha (Pali=man-lion) in Sri Lanka,^[5] manusiha or manuthiha (Pali=man-lion) in Myanmar, and Nora Nair or Thepnorasingh in Thailand.

In contrast to the sphinx in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece, where the traditions have been largely lost due to the discontinuity of the civilization,^[6] the traditions of the "Asian sphinx" are very much alive today. The earliest artistic depictions of "sphinxes" from the South Asian subcontinent are to some extent influenced by Hellenistic art. These hail from the period when Buddhist art underwent a phase of Hellenistic influence. But the "sphinxes" from Mathura, Kausambi and Sanchi, dated to the 3rd century BCE till the 1st century CE, also show a considerable non-Hellenist, indigenous character. It is therefore not possible to conclude the concept of the "sphinx" originated through foreign influence.^[7].

In South India the "sphinx" is known as purushamriga (Sanskrit) or purushamirukam (Tamil). This means human-beast. It is found depicted in sculptural art in temples and palaces where it serves an apotropaic purpose, just like the "sphinxes" in other parts of the ancient world.^[8] 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 the gopuram or temple gateway, or near the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum.

The purushamriga plays a significant role in daily as well as yearly ritual of South Indian Shaiva temples. In the sodasa-upacara (or 16 honors) ritual, performed between 1 to 6 times at significant sacred moments through the day, it decorates one of the lamps of the diparadhana or lamp ceremony. And in several temples the purushamriga is also one of the vahana or vehicles of the deity during the processions of the Brahmotsava or festival.

In Kanya Kumari district, in the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent, during the night of Shiva Ratri, devotees run 75 kilometer while visiting and worshiping at 12 Shiva temples. This Shiva Ottam (or Run for Shiva) is performed in commemoration of the story of the race between the Sphinx and Bhima, one of the heroes of the epic Mahabharata.

In Sri Lanka the sphinx is known as narasimha or man-lion. As a sphinx it has the body of a lion and the head of a human being, and is not to be confused with Narasimha, the 4th reincarnation of the deity Mahavishnu; this avatara or incarnation is depicted with a human body and the head of a lion. The "sphinx" narasimha is part of the Buddhist tradition and functions as a guardian of the northern direction and was also depicted on banners.

In Myanmar the sphinx is known as manusiha and manuthiha. It is depicted on the corners of Buddhist stupas, and its legends tells how it was created by Buddhist monks to protect a new born royal baby from being devoured by ogresses.

Nora Nair and Thep Norasingh are two of the names under which the "sphinx" is known in Thailand. 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 male-female pairs. Here too it serves a protective function. It is also enumerated among the mythological creatures that inhabit the ranges of the sacred mountain Himapan.^[9]

Mannerist sphinx

The revived Mannerist sphinx of the 16th century is sometimes thought of as the French sphinx. Her coiffed head is erect and she has the pretty bust of a young woman. Often she wears ear drops and pearls. Her body is naturalistically rendered as a recumbent lion. Such Sphinxes were revived when the grottesche or "grotesque" decorations of the unearthed "Golden House" (Domus Aurea) of Nero were brought to light in late 15th century Rome, and she was incorporated into the classical vocabulary of arabesque designs that was spread throughout Europe in engravings during the 16th and 17th centuries. Her first appearances in French art are in the School of Fontainebleau in the 1520s and 30s; her last appearances are in the Late Baroque style of the French Régence (1715–1723).

19th century and symbolism

Sphinxes were too somber perhaps for the Rococo, and they tended to disappear from the European design repertory - until revived in the 19th century with its romanticism, and later symbolism. Many of these sphinxes alluded to the Greek sphinx, rather than the Egyptian.

Notes

External links

• Oedipus & the Sphinx - The Classics Pages.

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