By Ellen Lorenzi-Prince © 2005 All rights reserved
[Solve] the riddle of
the monster-sphinx
so often baffling to the wits of men
Ovid, Metamorphoses, ca. 1 CE
The Sphinx was a creature
with the wings of an eagle, the body of a lion, the tail of a serpent, and the
head of a woman. She challenged those who sought dominion over life, and
destroyed those unworthy of it. The Sphinx was the mistress of time and
totality; her riddle encompassed the entirety of our lives from birth to death.
Image
source: Attic Marble Finial, ca. 530 BCE
