Sphinx

The Sphinx was a creature with the head and chest of a woman, the body and legs of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. The Sphinx was an offspring of Echidna and either Orthus or Typhon.

The Sphinx lived on the road west of Thebes. It was the custom of the Sphinx to ask a riddle of travellers heading towards Thebes. If the traveller answered the riddle correctly, the traveller would be allowed to pass her. If a traveller gave the wrong answer, the Sphinx would kill and devour them.

When Creon became regent at the death of King Laius, he offered the kingdom of Thebes and his beautiful sister Jocasta (newly widowed) in marriage. When Oedipus correctly answered the riddle, the Sphinx killed itself by jumping off a cliff.

Oedipus became king and unwittingly married his mother (Jocasta), becoming the father of their children.

See the House of Thebes for the entire tale of Oedipus.

In Egyptian mythology, the Sphinx appeared to be wingless.