On Unbelievable Stories (4)

What’s said about the Cadmeian Sphinx was that it was a beast born with the body of a dog, the head and face of a girl, the wings of a bird, and the voice of a human. She settled down on Mt Phicios and sang her riddle to each passer-by in turn. She killed whoever could not solve it; but when Oedipus solved the riddle, she threw herself down to her death. The story is unbelievable and impossible. It is impossible for a creature with her appearance to exist; and as for the idea that those who were unable to solve her riddles would be devoured by her: that’s childish. And that the Cadmeians would not rain down arrows on the beast, but just stand round and watch fellow townspeople be consumed as if they were enemies: nonsense!

The truth is as follows. Cadmos came to Thebes with an Amazonian wife, whose name was Sphinx. After killing Draco he seized Draco’s possessions and his kingdom, and along with them took his sister Harmonia as his wife. Sphinx, when she realised that he was marrying another woman, persuaded many of the townspeople to leave with her. In addition, she took most of his property, including a swift-footed dog, which Cadmos had brought with him. With these things, she went off to the mountain called Phicios, and from there began to wage war against Cadmos. When the time was right she laid ambushes. She carried off those whom she captured, and did away with them. The Cadmeians call an ambush an ainigma, a word more typically used in Greek to mean ‘riddle’. So while chattering away to each other the townspeople would say, Sphinx – that wild creature – is setting a trap for us with her ainigma. She has settled down on the mountain, and is picking us off. No one is able to figure out the ainigma. We can't fight her out in the open: she doesn't run but instead takes wing – both the dog and the woman together.

Cadmos announced that whoever killed Sphinx would be given a lot of money. Along came Oedipus, a Corinthian man experienced in military matters, with a swift-footed horse. He formed the Cadmeians into a fighting force and went out during the night. After lying in wait, he figured out the ainigma and killed Sphinx. The rest was made into myth from these actual events.