The myth of the Sphinx and its interpretation

The myth of the Sphinx is more than an entertaining story. It tells us about the way in which circumstances conspire so that the human being ends up trapped in his own destiny, even though at some point he believes he is the winner by deciphering an enigma that appears in his path.

The myth of the Sphinx is one of the most beautiful and significant in Greek culture. This special character has been considered the symbol of mystery and at the same time of enigma. It is also this creature that makes it possible for Oedipus’s unfortunate design to be fulfilled: to kill his father and marry his mother. That is why this myth has a special place in psychoanalysis.

The myth of the Sphinx tells us that this was a mysterious creature. She was considered a terrible demon, due to the death and desolation she generated. At once, He was of the same nature as the muses, since he knew how to handle words with beauty . He sang his riddlesfor which Sophocles himself called her “cruel singer.”

An interesting aspect is that the myth of the Sphinx not only appears in Greek culture.. There are also representations of this creature in India and in various places in Asia. In the same way, the most famous representation is that of the Great Pyramid of Giza, in Egypt. Although the myth varies from place to place, the representation is basically the same.

… “and with the afternoon a man came / who, terrified, deciphered in the mirror / the monstrous image, the reflection / of his decline and his destiny”.

-Jorge Luis Borges-

The myth of the Sphinx

The myth of the Sphinx does not offer us a clear version of the origin of this creature. Apparently she was the daughter of two demons , or of a demon and a nymph. She had, if anything, a hybrid appearance. Her face and her bust were that of a woman, with a pale face, her eyes like burning bonfires and her mouth full of poison.

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At the same time, it had a body dog, lion’s paws, eagle’s wings and dragon’s tail. The sphinxes of Egypt have a male face and lack wings. The classic myth of the Sphinx tells us that it arrived from the confines of Ethiopia and settled in the Greek city of Thebes. She was sent, apparently, by the goddess Hera to punish the Thebans.

Hera, who was a vengeful goddess, wanted to charge all the inhabitants of the city for the mistakes of the king of Thebes, Laius. This, despite being married to Jocasta and having had a son with her (Oedipus), he kidnapped and seduced a young man named Chrysippus. This is the first direct allusion to homosexuality in Greek tragedies.

The terrible creature

The sphinx, as a demon and at the same time as a muse, did not sow terror and desolation without some style. She didn’t just kill. She hid in remote places on lonely roads. When he passed by, some Theban would appear to him with his horrible figure and ask him a riddle. . If the traveler was not able to decipher it, she took his life.

This creature killed its victims by strangling them. In fact, the word “sphinx” comes from a Greek root meaning “to strangle.” In this way, he spread terror and desolation in Thebes.

Faced with this distressing situation, a proclamation was made according to which whoever was able to solve the riddle of the sphinx, and get rid of it, He would be named king of Thebes and take the beautiful queen, Jocasta, in marriage.

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Oedipus, who was wandering in the area, met the sphinx at a bend in the road. This she posed the famous riddle of her, expressing it this way: “What is the only creature that walks on all fours at dawn, on two at noon, and on three at dusk?”

Oedipus answered correctly: man. At birth he crawls, in adulthood he walks on two feet and in old age he needs the help of a cane.

The death of the sphinx and its interpretation

It is not very clear what happened when Oedipus gave the correct answer.. According to some versions, the sphinx was thrown into the void over an abyss. Other versions indicate that Oedipus himself killed her or that the creature fled to take refuge in Egypt, where she was petrified.

The truth is Oedipus was named king of Thebes and, as promised, he was given Jocasta as his wife.. Thus the prediction that prophesied that he would end up marrying his mother was fulfilled. He had already killed his father, Laius, on the road, after a confusion.

Some psychoanalysts have interpreted the sphinx as a representation of the mystery of the feminine, which always wants to be deciphered. It has also been suggested that It symbolizes the tragic destiny of human beings. Oedipus defeats the sphinx, but that is what precipitates him towards his greatest tragedy.: marrying his mother without knowing it and then punishing himself for it by gouging out his eyes.