Some Thoughts on the Sphinx’s Symbolism

The Greek Sphinx, probably of Egyptian origin, was known in Antiquity not only as a funeral spirit and guardian of tombs, but especially as that creature who dares to ask Oedipus a question about the nature of human identity. This dialectic encounter between hero and beast has been interpreted in many different ways, giving rise to a rich symbolic tradition that extends almost to the present day. This paper presents some key moments of this tradition in both literature and art.