The Riddle of the Sphinx- the expression itself is mysterious. Not everyone will immediately remember who (or what) is sphinx. Secondly, why is there some kind of mystery associated with this very creature?

In Greek mythology sphinx- it's a monster woman's face, lion body and large bird wings. According to legend sphinx was located near the gates of the Greek city of Thebes and asked every passerby the same riddle- "Who walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?" The one who didn't guess the riddle of the sphinx, waiting for a terrible death in the clutches of a monster.

The son of the mayor of Thebes Oedipus guessed the same the riddle of the sphinx: "A small child crawls on all fours, an adult walks on two legs, and an old man also leans on a stick."

shocked that his riddle figured out sphinx out of frustration, he fell off the cliff and crashed to death on the rocks.

By the way, the expression riddle of the sphinx has nothing to do with Egyptian sphinx, whose image is familiar to everyone from history books and tourist booklets about Egypt. Although the Egyptian sphinx such a mysterious expression on his face and a look fixed on eternity that one might think that he is hiding some universal riddle from humanity.

In a word, the expression riddle of the sphinx we use when we talk about a difficult problem that is not easy to solve.

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Phraseologism is a stable figurative expression, the meaning of which is not determined by the meaning of individual words. Phraseology includes:

• idioms - phraseological units as rethought figurative meanings;
• proverbs and sayings formed in folklore;
• catch phrases - phrases of an aphoristic nature, referring to a particular author, artistic, literary or cinematic work.

What does "Sphinx" mean? Mystery of the Sphinx? Meaning "Sphinx; Mystery of the Sphinx

What does this mean?
"Sphinx; Mystery of the Sphinx is something unusual, incomprehensible, mysterious.

Origin

Where and what is the origin of the phrase?
Source catchphrase"Sphinx; Mystery of the Sphinx Greek mythology. Sphinx - a monster with the face and chest of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird, who lived on a rock near Thebes. The Sphinx lay in wait for travelers and asked them riddles, and those who could not solve them, he killed. When the Theban king Oedipus solved the riddles given to him, the monster took his own life.

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Other meanings and stories of the origin of expressions, phraseological units, sayings, proverbs and catchphrases on the site from our dictionary of words and expressions of the Russian language.

Sentences with the word SPHINX

• Yes, the riddle will be revealed, the sphinx will speak, the problem will be solved.
• Immediately dug up a granite sphinx on a limestone pedestal.
• She drew a cruciform line on the sphinx and told him to say that the cross was the answer.
• He once gave her a ring with a sphinx carved in stone.
• Before open door the crypt froze sphinx with a raised paw.
• With enthusiasm, she began to tell the story of the creation of the Sphinx.
• So he sat for some time in complete stupor, silent and motionless, like a sphinx.
• Approaching one of them, the old priest fell with his whole body on the head of the sphinx.
• They were hollowed out in the same rock from which the Sphinx itself was carved.
• They ran along the sphinx's tail as if it were a treadmill.
• Meanwhile, the sphinx, rapidly cutting through the air, raced his stern rider to the west.
• Sometimes her face took on an impenetrable, completely incomprehensible expression, like that of a sphinx.
• The Egyptian Sphinx is a statue with the body of a lion and a human head, half-man, half-lion.
• To this list one can add a four-headed ram and a sphinx with a ram's head.
• He looks with dead eyes into the sphinx, unknown to mankind, smiling mysteriously with sensual lips.
• Her gaze was like that of a sphinx looking into the distance, over the eternal and endless sands of the desert.

The mysterious creature with a lion's body is not assigned to a specific culture and has no specific gender. The most famous Egyptian sphinx guarding Giza is male.

In Egyptian mythology, the heads of the sphinxes were not only human. The falcon-headed sphinxes were dedicated to the god Horus, and the ram-headed sphinxes were dedicated to the solar deity Amon. There are even sphinxes with the head of a crocodile, apparently glorifying Sebek, the god of the Nile. All Egyptian sphinxes are depicted on the walls of temples or guard tombs, sacred places for people. It can be concluded that the Egyptian male sphinx was a positive figure, a protector and guardian of the mysterious world of the gods. The hieroglyph, which denoted the sphinx, also meant "owner", "ruler".

A contemporary of the Egyptian sphinx is a monster from the Sumerian legend, which the supreme goddess Tiamat gives birth to avenge her husband. Here the sphinx is the embodiment of malice, anger and horror.

The image of the sphinx, which migrated from Egypt to Greece, has undergone significant changes. Firstly, he changed sex and instead of the crown of the pharaoh, he acquired a naked female. Secondly, he grew wings. It is this sphinx that has become widespread in world culture along with the owner from Egypt. Even the word "sphinx" itself comes from the Greek "sphincter" - to squeeze, "sphinga" - a strangler. According to legend, the Greek Sphinx was the daughter of the ancient monsters Typhon and Echidna, a product of the abyss and chaos.

A riddle for the future king Oedipus

The widespread image of the sphinx as a creature speaking in riddles also came from Greece. Hera, the supreme goddess of Olympus, decided to punish the Theban king Lai for his crimes and sent a sphinx to the gates of Thebes. He, having settled down on a roadside stone, began to ask the travelers a riddle, which the muses suggested to him. For the unfaithful, the punishment was death.

Gradually, the road to the city became deserted, no one wanted to risk their lives, guessing the ingenious riddle of the sphinx. Only Oedipus, during his fateful journey to Thebes, was able to solve the riddle, which sounded like this: “What creature walks on four legs in the morning, on two in the afternoon, and on three in the evening?” Oedipus replied that this is a man - as a child he crawls on all fours, growing up, he walks on his feet, and in old age he relies on a cane. The defeated Sphinx rushed into the abyss from Mount Phikea.

Other mysteries of the sphinx of the legend have not been preserved. Some philosophers, studying ancient myths, suggested that the sphinx made a riddle for each person intended only for him. The riddle about the age of a man hinted at the sad fate of Oedipus, who, in ignorance, killed his father and married his own mother.

Phraseologism "The Riddle of the Sphinx" meaning

Surely everyone imagines sphinx- a majestic statue of a half-man, half-lion, importantly reclining on a stone base. The Neva embankment in St. Petersburg is also vigilantly guarded by sphinxes brought here in 1832 from Egyptian Thebes. Some contemptuous calmness and mysterious importance are read in the faces of the statues, it seems that the expression "mystery of the sphinx" is associated precisely with these representatives of ancient Egypt. In fact, we are talking about another mythical sphinx, whose homeland is Greece.

According to Greek legends, the sphinx is a monster with a female face, a lion's body and huge bird wings. He sat on a high cliff near the city gates of Thebes and asked each traveler the same question: “Who walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?” Those who did not guess the riddle were waiting for a terrible death in the clutches of a monster.

The only person who managed to find the correct answer was Oedipus, the son of the ruler of Thebes. “A small child crawls on all fours, an adult walks on two legs, and an old man also leans on a stick,” the young man replied. The Sphinx, not expecting that someone would be able to solve its puzzle, in desperation fell off the cliff and crashed to death on the rocks.

To the uninitiated it may seem that we are talking about the same being: again the city of Thebes appears. But do not confuse Thebes, located in Hellas with the Egyptian Thebes - the ancient capital of the state of the pharaohs.

Incomprehensible, mysterious people from time immemorial are called "sphinxes", idiom "mystery of the sphinx" we use when we talk about a complex, difficult task.