The Sphinx
Oedipus Explains the Riddle of the Sphinx
Jean August Dominique Ingres
Canvas, 1808
The Sphinx is the child of Echidna and Typhoeus and therefore kin to other monsters like the Hydra, the Chimaira and the Nemean lion.
The Sphinx is best known as the riddle-loving monster which terrorised Thebes until Oedipus came along and answered her question correctly .
Oedipus' reward is to marry the queen of Thebes, his mother, which prompted Jung's reading of the Sphinx as the riddle herself which Oedipus failed to understand.
In ancient art the Sphinx is often shown carrying off young men. As a death-bringing snatcher she is
comparable to the Harpies, also composite monsters who are sometimes shown on tombs carrying off the dead.There are several species according to myth: the ram-headed one, the hawk-headed
one, and the human-headed one) was a mythical creature with the head of a woman, the body of a
dog, the tail of a serpent, the paws of a lion, and a human voice. It was sent as a curse to Thebes by Hera and devoured those travelers that could not answer its riddle. Oedipus finally bested the
creature by answering the riddle: What is it that in the morning walks on four legs, at noon on two,
and in the evening on three? The answer: man, who crawls as a baby, walks erect as a man, and
leans on a cane in his old age. The sphinx thereupon committed suicide.
Scylla
Scylla grew up a beautiful maiden nymph, the daughter of
Phorcus and Ceto. One day while she walked along the
water's edge a man turned sea-god, Glaucus, spotted her. He
lusted after her, but, in she did not return that love. A jealous
Circe, who was in love with Glaucus herself, changed Scylla
into a monster with. She was human to the waste, but below
that were biting snapping dogs. She had become a monster.
She sat on the Italian side of the straits of Messina gobbling up
anything that came within her reach.
Charybdis
Charydis was once a nymph, the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia. And she flooded lands for her father's underwater kingdom until Zeus turned her into a monster and had her suck in and out water three times a day. She lived in a cave on the Sicilian side of the Strait of Messina, opposite the monster Scylla, the two of them forming a dangerous threat to passing ships.
Agdistis
Agdistis originally had both male and female sexual organs. But the gods cut off the male one, and an almond tree grew up from it. Sangarius' daughter picked the fruit and ate it and became pregnant.
Campe
Campe was the jailoress in Tartarus who guarded the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires(the Giants). She was double-shaped, and female to her hips. From her chest to her thighs she was covered in fish scales. Over her shoulders a scorpion curled around itself. She was killed by Zeus when he freed the Cyclopes and the Giants to fight the Titans.
Delphyne
Delphyne was a female dragon. A "half-bestial maiden," as Carlos Parada puts it, who guarded the sinews of the hands and feet of Zeus after Typhon severed them. She was eventually killed by Apollo.
Scythian Monster
The Scythian Monster was half maiden half serpant. She refused to give Geryons cattle to Hercules unless he agreed to have intercourse with her. As a result, little Agathyrsus was conceived. As well as Alcaeus, Gelonus, and Scythes (the first King of Scythia).
Stymphalian Birds
These man killing birds were gathered around a lake in Stymphalos. But then Hercules came along and killed all of them using noisemakers made by Hephaestus. Bye-Bye Birdies!
Lamia
Lamia was a queen of Libya who fell in love with Zeus. Hera killed her children in jealousy, so Lamia went crazy and devoured all the children she could, becoming a demon. She would trick parents and then steal and eat their children.
Fairies
In folklore and legend, a diminutive supernatural being, in human shape, who has magical powers.
Usually depicted as clever and mischievous. Known by many names and in many forms: Brownie, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Goblin, Leprechaun, Pixie,
etc.
