Corinthian Sphinx 540-520 BCE

April 05, 2020

Corinthian Sphinx 540-520 BCE

"Farther on [beyond Thebes, Boiotia (Boeotia)] we come to the mountain from which they say the Sphinx, chanting a riddle, sallied to bring death upon those she caught. Others say that roving with a force of ships on a piratical expedition she put in at Anthedon, seized the mountain I mentioned, and used it for plundering raids until Oidipous (Oedipus) overwhelmed her by the superior numbers of the army he had with him on his arrival from Korinthos (Corinth). There is another version of the story which makes her the natural daughter of Laius (Laeus), who, because he was fond of her, told her the oracle delivered to Kadmos (Cadmus) from Delphoi (Delphi). Now Laius had sons by concubines, and the oracle delivered from Delphoi applied only to Epikaste (Epicaste) and her sons. So when any of her brothers came in order to claim the throne from the Sphinx, she resorted to trickery in dealing with them, saying that if they were sons of Laius they should know the oracle that came to Kadmos. When they could not answer she would punish them with death, on the ground that they had no valid claim to the kingdom or to relationship. But Oidipous came because it appears he had been told the oracle in a dream."

-Pausanias, Description of Greece 9. 26. 2 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.)

Corinthian Sphinx 540-520 BCE. Sphinx head. Polychrome terracotta, Corinthian artwork, ca. 540–520 BC. From Thebes. H. 34.5 cm (13 ½ in.), W. 19 cm (7 ¼ in.). Current location: The Louvre.