The Sphinx

This monster was said to have the face of a woman; the chest, feet, and tail of a lion; and wings of a bird. It was thought that the Sphinx was the child of Echidna and Orthrus, but it was also said to be fathered by Typhon. This monster was sent to Thebes by Hera to punish the city for the crime of Laius, who had been guilty of loving Pelops' son. The Sphinx devoured every mortal who passed by within reach, but it would ask passers-by this riddle: "What is it that has four feet in the morning, two at noon, and three at night?" If they couldn't solve the riddle they died. Only Oedipus was able to solve it: humans crawl on all fours in infancy, attain bipedal status, and late in life walk with a cane. In despair the Sphinx threw itself from the top of a rock and killed itself. In ancient Egypt, sphinxes were statues representing deities, with the body of a lion and the head of some other animal or of man, frequently a likeness of the king.