[sfingks] 
, [sfin-jeez] . | 1. | (in ancient Egypt)
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| 2. | (initial capital letter ) Classical Mythology. a monster, usually represented as having the head and breast of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. Seated on a rock outside of Thebes, she proposed a riddle to travelers, killing them when they answered incorrectly, as all did before Oedipus. When he answered her riddle correctly the Sphinx killed herself. |
| 3. | any similar monster. |
| 4. | a mysterious, inscrutable person or thing, esp. one given to enigmatic questions or answers. |
| sphinx (sfĭngks) n. pl. sphinx·es or sphin·ges (sfĭn'jēz')
[Middle English Spynx, from Latin Sphinx, from Greek.] |
In the story of Oedipus, a winged monster with the head of a woman and the body of a lion. It waylaid travelers on the roads near the city of Thebes and would kill any of them who could not answer this riddle: “What creatures walk on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?” Oedipus finally gave the correct answer: human beings, who go on all fours as infants, walk upright in maturity, and in old age rely on the “third leg” of a cane.
Note: The sphinx of Greek mythology resembles the sphinx of Egyptian mythology but is distinct from it (the Egyptian sphinx had a man's head). (See under “Fine Arts.”)