Lesson #3 (November) - Sphinx

Ministry of Magic Classification: XXXX

The sphinx is a majestic creature with the body of a lion and the head and bust of a human. The sphinx has been the stuff of legends for over five thousand years. In Ancient Egypt, where it was first introduced, the sphinx was a symbol of royalty, fertility, and life after death. Its image is often associated with the annual flooding of the Nile. Statues of sphinxes were placed outside most Egyptian tombs and temples.

The most celebrated of the Egyptian sphinx statues is the 240-foot-long, 66-foot-high Great Sphinx, which lies on a strip of desert known as the Giza Plateau. More than 4,500 years old, this colossal limestone carving joins the rippling, powerful body of a lion with the regal head of an Egyptian pharaoh, or king. Most historians believe it is a tribute to the ancient Egyptian ruler Khafre, whose pyramid sits nearby.

From Ancient Egypt, the myth of the sphinx made its way across the Mediterranean Sea to the lands of Mesopotamia (modern-day Syria and Iraq) and Ancient Greece. In these countries, the half-man, half-lion took on a more sinister meeting, often representing not just the underworld, but also senseless violence and destruction. The throne of the Greek god Zeus at Olympia, the holy mountain on which the gods resided, was supposedly engraved with a ring of sphinxes, shown carrying off small children. Other Greek and Roman sphinxes were depicted tearing apart their victims. The basic anatomy of the sphinx also changed as it moved northeast. In Mesopotamia the mythical beast was often shown with the head of a ram or eagle. In Greece, it was given wings, and face and breasts of a woman.

Although she lacks wings, the sphinx that Harry Potter encounters during the Triwizard Tournament (GOF-Book 4) is probably Greek in character. Not only does she have a woman's face, she uses her wits to defend a dark secret, much like the sphinx in the ancient myth of Oedipus. In this story, a menacing sphinx stalks the countryside around the city of Thebes, posing impossible questions to travelers and eating them if they fail her test. She finally meets her match in the young wanderer Oedipus, who solves the riddle "What animal walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night?" (The answer is man: a person crawls as an infant, walks as an adult, and leans on a cane in his/her final years). Oedipus, like Harry, successfully defeated the sphinx and was allowed to proceed to his final destination.

Over time, the Greek image of the sphinx as a dark creature has become more prominent. The word itself comes from the Greek sphingein meaning "to squeeze," "strangle," or "bind."