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The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. [1] Facing directly from west to east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The face of the Sphinx appears to represent the pharaoh Khafre. [2]
A sphinx (/ s f ɪ ŋ k s / SFINKS; Ancient Greek: σφίγξ, pronounced; [1] pl. sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a bird.
Oedipus (UK: / ˈ iː d ɪ p ə s /, also US: / ˈ ɛ d ə-/; Ancient Greek: Οἰδίπους "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes.A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family.
In that poem the Sphinx triumphs over Oedipus. [3] In a Freudian interpretation, it has been argued that the Sphinx represents the castrating effect of Moreau's mother that he has been seeking to escape. [citation needed] At the time the painting was created, Moreau's father had recently died.
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 context of the description of the defeat of the Sphinx is not universally agreed upon. Some scholars believe that the action of the play began with Oedipus defeating the Sphinx, and then moved quickly to the revelations that Oedipus killed the previous king Laius and then that Laius and Jocasta were Oedipus' biological parents. [3] [9]
The Sphinx is positioned north of the lower end of the causeway of Khafre that connects his Pyramid- and Valley Temple. It was created by carving it out of the bedrock, cutting blocks from around its body which were used to construct the Sphinx Temple immediately east of the Sphinx and north of the Valley Temple, aligned to it.
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