sphinx of Boeotian Thebes
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The sphinx of Boeotian Thebes was a winged creature with a lion's body and a woman's head. In Greek mythology, she terrorized the city by demanding that travelers answer a riddle. If they failed, she would devour them. The riddle was: "What is it that has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?".12
Eventually, Oedipus correctly answered "man," as humans crawl on all fours as babies, walk on two legs as adults, and use a staff in old age. Upon hearing the correct answer, the sphinx killed herself, and Oedipus became the hero of Thebes. This encounter led to the sphinx becoming a symbol of wisdom.13
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