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Published: 2011-05-26 19:54:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 305775; Favourites: 8256; Downloads: 8966
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Hi there guys! here comes a pic I´ve done in a stream several months ago, maybe you remember itbamboo/PSCS3/7 hours/Music: Therion - Seven secrets of the sphinx
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LET´S WIKIATTACK!
A sphinx (Ancient Greek: Σφίγξ /sphinx, Bœotian: Φίξ /Phix) is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head.
The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face and breast of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless. Those who cannot answer her riddle suffer a fate typical in such mythological stories, as they are gobbled up whole and eaten by this ravenous monster. Unlike the Greek sphinx which was a woman, the Egyptian sphinx is typically shown as a man (an androsphinx). In addition, the Egyptian sphinx was viewed as benevolent in contrast to the malevolent Greek version and was thought of as a guardian often flanking the entrances to temples.
In European decorative art, the sphinx enjoyed a major revival during the Renaissance. Later, the sphinx image, something very similar to the original Ancient Egyptian concept, was exported into many other cultures, albeit often interpreted quite differently due to translations of descriptions of the originals and the evolution of the concept in relation to other cultural traditions.
Generally the role of sphinxes is associated with architectural structures such as royal tombs or religious temples. The oldest known sphinx was found in Gobekli Tepe, Turkey and was dated to 9,500 BC.
There was a single sphinx in Greek mythology, a unique demon of destruction and bad luck. According to Hesiod, she was a daughter of Orthus and either Echidna or the Chimera, or perhaps even Ceto; according to others, she was a daughter of Echidna and Typhon. All of these are chthonic figures from the earliest of Greek myths, before the Olympians ruled the Greek pantheon. The Sphinx is called Phix (Φίξ) by Hesiod.
The Sphinx is said to have guarded the entrance to the Greek city of Thebes, and to have asked a riddle of travellers to allow them passage. The exact riddle asked by the Sphinx was not specified by early tellers of the stories, and was not standardized as the one given below until late in Greek history.
It was said in late lore that Hera or Ares sent the Sphinx from her Ethiopian homeland (the Greeks always remembered the foreign origin of the Sphinx) to Thebes in Greece where she asks all passersby the most famous riddle in history: "Which creature in the morning goes on four legs, at mid-day on two, and in the evening upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?" She strangled and devoured anyone unable to answer. Oedipus solved the riddle by answering: Man—who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and then walks with a cane in old age. An allegorical interpretation is also the development of man from a primitive state (four-footed animal), to self-sustained (two-footed) and finally to stable and mature (see tripod). By some accounts (but much more rarely), there was a second riddle: "There are two sisters: one gives birth to the other and she, in turn, gives birth to the first." The answer is "day and night" (both words are feminine in Greek).
Bested at last, the tale continues, the Sphinx then threw herself from her high rock and died. An alternative version tells that she devoured herself. Thus Oedipus can be recognized as a "liminal" or threshold figure, helping effect the transition between the old religious practices, represented by the death of the Sphinx, and the rise of the new, Olympian gods.
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Comments: 303
kingthedark [2011-05-27 20:43:12 +0000 UTC]
Cool, i like all you Art and i like how im not the only one who thinks Greek legends are just boring.
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FriendOrPhantom [2011-05-27 20:27:59 +0000 UTC]
looks like the sphinx has magical censoring hair... still a pretty awesome pic!
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Elillustrated [2011-05-27 20:26:53 +0000 UTC]
This made me think of the Sphinx Gate in The Neverending Story for some reason. Awesomesauce!
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MsLovelyA [2011-05-27 19:44:40 +0000 UTC]
BTW I love your interpretation of the Sphinx; very incredible
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MsLovelyA [2011-05-27 19:44:08 +0000 UTC]
Did you know that the Sphinx is featured in a fantasy book with oil paintings (obviously copied onto paper) called The Voyage of the Basset (authors: James C. Christensen, Renwick St. James and Alan Dean Foster)?
It is something that I've enjoyed as a child when my mother would read it to me, and it has little tidbits of history to go along with each creature we, as the readers, encounter.
I would personally recommend this book (even though it is hard to find..I think you would have to pre-order it online) ^___^
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w0nderb0ydp74 [2011-05-27 19:18:43 +0000 UTC]
I don't even know what to say... She's exactly the way I have always imagined her to be in my own head. Actually even better. Amazing
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kenitachi In reply to ??? [2011-05-27 19:01:39 +0000 UTC]
speech less ur lucky im righting this
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SapphiraTheMongoose [2011-05-27 18:29:27 +0000 UTC]
Very nice and original! I love sphinxes. :3
I am SO glad the greekies decided to also give it the breast of a woman, it just wouldn't look the same with 6 nipples. D:
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GrimmOkami [2011-05-27 16:12:54 +0000 UTC]
Love it! Love the expression on her face and how her hair looks like it flows into the wings
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SonicWolvelina99 [2011-05-27 15:32:33 +0000 UTC]
These are actually really good riddles the sphinx asks. I love the picture!
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adamkaimaras [2011-05-27 09:58:23 +0000 UTC]
Very nice!!!! I love your paintings and that you always searching the truth and the history behind them!!!
Thank you for making our history known to the whole world ^^
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Venom-V13 In reply to ??? [2011-05-27 09:06:53 +0000 UTC]
This is so badass, awesome work!!
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NateNarcieq [2011-05-27 08:06:30 +0000 UTC]
I love it.
I'm a lover of Sphinx anyways but seeing one that you draw made my day a very good one.
The thing I like most about it is the scene. The fullmoon shining at the mysic body and the clouds that perfectly fit to the moons body.
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Levia-the-Dragon In reply to ??? [2011-05-27 07:31:32 +0000 UTC]
Huh... so the Sphinx existed in both Egyptian and greek mythology, and can be traced back evenr earlier, curious...
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Pyract [2011-05-27 06:17:53 +0000 UTC]
Beautiful! Any chance of getting a wallpaper version?
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Mebiusu In reply to ??? [2011-05-27 06:17:12 +0000 UTC]
Great painting I like the transition from lion to human, and the way you've used the moon to frame her. Really good.
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edtropolis [2011-05-27 05:52:27 +0000 UTC]
Ah yes, just like the Sphinx on that episode of Astroboy...this one is waaaaaay better looking though
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JDIAZ1313 [2011-05-27 05:27:36 +0000 UTC]
yo creia que la esfinge era EGIPCIA y que era una criatura arrogante por su gran capacdad intelectual.
La esfingue Volava por los lugares mas desolados del decierto y si alguien tenia la mala suerte de toparse con ella ella le decia un acertijo, si la pobre persona no contestaba correctamente la criatura lo mataba pero si lo contestaba correctamente esa persona solo tendra muy buena fortuna, prosperidad y felicidad absoluta el resto de su vida.
OVIAMENTE EL ACERTIJO ERA CASI IMPOSIBLE DE CONTESTAR Y MENOS CON UNA SOLA OPORTUNIDAD.
pero tanbien abia una esfinge del mito griego (NO ES DE EXTRAÑAR) ¿podrias resumir un poco la descripcion?
no soy bueno para leer el ingles y deverdad me interesa aprender la diferencia entre ambas esfinges.
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DeeJay1993 [2011-05-27 04:45:41 +0000 UTC]
I love Greek mythology Medusa has a sad story kind of
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Wolfblade670 [2011-05-27 04:43:21 +0000 UTC]
Magnificent.
Also, Subnormality. It immediately came to mind.
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Wolfblade670 [2011-05-27 04:43:21 +0000 UTC]
Magnificent.
Also, Subnormality. It immediately came to mind.
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ivan-zero09 [2011-05-27 04:38:27 +0000 UTC]
Excelente! Que gran interpretacion de una Esfinge!
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iceofwolf [2011-05-27 04:21:08 +0000 UTC]
Ohh, I love her face and wings. Great detail on the feathers and such a serene, strong expression.
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