Sphinx
Sphinx in Greek mythology, a winged monster of Thebes, having a woman's head and a lion's body. It propounded a riddle about the three ages of man, killing those who failed to solve it, until Oedipus was successful, whereupon the Sphinx committed suicide.
The name sphinx was later used for the sculptured or carved figure of an imaginary creature with a human head and breast and the body of a lion, in particular, an ancient Egyptian stone figure having a lion's body and a human or animal head, especially the huge statue near the Pyramids at Giza.
The word is recorded from late Middle English (and comes via Latin from Greek, apparently from sphingein ‘draw tight’); from the early 17th century, the name is used for a person held to resemble the sphinx, in posing difficult questions, or in being of a mysterious or inscrutable nature.
The name sphinx was later used for the sculptured or carved figure of an imaginary creature with a human head and breast and the body of a lion, in particular, an ancient Egyptian stone figure having a lion's body and a human or animal head, especially the huge statue near the Pyramids at Giza.
The word is recorded from late Middle English (and comes via Latin from Greek, apparently from sphingein ‘draw tight’); from the early 17th century, the name is used for a person held to resemble the sphinx, in posing difficult questions, or in being of a mysterious or inscrutable nature.
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Sphinx