Sphinx
The Greek Sphinx was a winged monster with the head of a woman and the body of a lion who posed a deadly riddle to all who approached Thebes.
The Myth of Sphinx
The Sphinx perched on Mount Phicium outside Thebes, sent by Hera as punishment upon the city — some say because Thebes had offended her, others because the curse traced back to Cadmus and the founding bloodline. She posed her famous riddle to every traveller: "What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?" Those who failed were devoured. Oedipus, arriving from Corinth and ignorant of his true parentage, answered correctly: Man — who crawls as an infant, walks upright in prime, and uses a cane in age. The Sphinx hurled herself from the cliff and died. Thebes made Oedipus king and gave him the widowed queen — his own mother, fulfilling Apollo's dreadful prophecy from Delphi.
Parents
Typhon and Echidna
Symbols
Fun Fact
The word sphinx comes from sphingein, "to squeeze or strangle" — the Sphinx strangled those who answered incorrectly.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Sphinx
🐉 creatureRiddling monster with a lion body and human head
A creature with the body of a lion, wings of an eagle, and head of a woman. The Sphinx terrorized Thebes with her deadly riddle until Oedipus solved it.
Echidna
🐉 creatureMother of all monsters
Echidna was half woman, half serpent — called the Mother of All Monsters for bearing the most fearsome creatures of Greek mythology.
Lamia
🐉 creatureChild-devouring queen turned monster
Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya whom Zeus loved; when Hera killed her children in jealousy, Lamia was driven mad and became a child-snatching monster.
Sphinx
🐉 creatureGuardian riddle-asker
The Sphinx combined Egyptian monumental sculpture with Greek narrative — in Egypt a guardian, in Greece a deadly riddler whose defeat by Oedipus unlocked Thebes' greatest tragedy.
Sybaris
🐉 creaturemonsters
A monstrous serpent-dragon that terrorised the region around Delphi until slain by a young hero
Sphinx
🐉 creatureThe riddle of the Sphinx
The Sphinx's riddle — "What walks on four legs, two legs, then three?" — is the most famous riddle in Western civilisation, a question about human nature itself.
Campe
🐉 creaturemonsters
Campe was the monstrous she-dragon who guarded the Cyclopes in Tartarus — her death gave Zeus the thunderbolt that won the war against the Titans.
Typhon
🐉 creatureMost powerful monster who challenged Zeus
Typhon was the most fearsome monster in Greek mythology — a giant with serpent heads who nearly overthrew Zeus and would have ruled the cosmos.
Typhon
🐉 creatureFather of all monsters
The most fearsome monster in Greek mythology, who challenged Zeus for supremacy of the cosmos. Typhon was the father of many of mythology's most dangerous creatures.
Crommyonian Sow
🐉 creatureDestruction, monsters
Monstrous wild sow that terrorised the region of Crommyon until it was slain by the young Theseus
Krataiis
🐉 creatureSea, terror
Sea goddess or nymph identified as the mother of the terrifying six-headed monster Scylla
Chimera
🐉 creatureFire-breathing hybrid monster
A fire-breathing monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. The Chimera terrorized Lycia until Bellerophon slew it from the back of Pegasus.