Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The word sphinx comes from the Greek Σφίγξ, associated by folk etymology with the verb σφίγγω (sphíngō), meaning "to squeeze", "to tighten up". [4] [5] This name may be derived from the fact that lions kill their prey by strangulation, biting the throat of prey and holding them down until they die.
Many more similar columns crowned by sphinxes were discovered in ancient Greece, as in Sparta, Athens or Spata, and some were used as funerary steles. [6]It has also been suggested that 6th century BCE Greek columns such as the Sphinx of Naxos may have been an inspiration for the pillars of Ashoka in 3rd century BCE India, following the contacts initiated by Alexander the Great in 320 BCE, and ...
Having seen that, they turn towards the astounding temple of Fame, a temple enormous and imposing in size and shape, whose door on its left side is white from ivory steps with shining horn on the other half. Disturbing nightmares are conveyed by false rumour on the vain gates of ivory, while true dreams of horn are sent by trustworthy rumours.
A liminal deity is a god or goddess in mythology who presides over thresholds, gates, or doorways; "a crosser of boundaries". [1] These gods are believed to oversee a state of transition of some kind; such as, the old to the new, the unconscious to the conscious state, the familiar to the unknown.
The hieracosphinx (Ancient Greek: ἱερακόσφιγξ) is a mythical beast found in Egyptian sculpture and European heraldry. [1] The god Haroeris ("Horus the Elder") was usually depicted as one. [2] The name Hieracosphinx comes from the Greek Ιερακόσφιγξ, itself from ἱέραξ (hierax "hawk") + σφίγξ ("sphinx"). [3]
A message etched into an ancient sphinx has proven to be, well, sphinx-like. The “mysterious” inscription has long been an enigma, puzzling scholars for over a century.
The contest-riddle was a known form of riddling. So riddling pervaded Greek life on many levels and during many occasions. [11] A key source for this culture is Athenaeus. [12] The most famous Classical riddle is the Riddle of the Sphinx: Oedipus killed the Sphinx by grasping the answer to the riddle it posed. [13]
Oedipus represents two enduring themes of Greek myth and drama: the flawed nature of humanity and an individual's role in the course of destiny in a harsh universe. In the best-known version of the myth, Oedipus was born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. Laius wished to thwart the prophecy, so he sent a shepherd-servant to leave ...