(a)
In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion. "The awful ruins of the days of old... Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphinx."
(b)
On Greek art and mythology, a she-monster, usually represented as having the winged body of a lion, and the face and breast of a young woman. Note: The most famous Grecian sphinx, that of Thebes in Boeotia, is said to have proposed a riddle to the Thebans, and killed those who were unable to guess it. The enigma was solved by OEdipus, whereupon the sphinx slew herself. "Subtle as sphinx."
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