In Greek mythology, the Sphinx was a female monster with the body of a lion, the head and breasts of a woman, wings of an eagle and, according to some, the tail of a serpent. Many people know the myth of the Sphinx as a monster that devours anyone who cannot solve its riddle. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay She was sent by the gods to torment the city of Thebes as punishment for an ancient crime. Many people know the story of how Laius, king of Thebes, once fell in love with Pelops' son Chrysippus (before he became king) of Elis in the northwestern Peloponnese. Laius lured Chrysippus out of the city and raped him, then fled back to Thebes while Pelops cursed him for his transgression. When he returned, all of his father's successors to the throne were dead so Laius took the vacant throne, where he married Jocasta. An oracle later informed him that he would be killed by his son. Laius was angry, so as a result he refuses to have intercourse with his wife until one night of drunkenness. When Jocasta gave birth to a son, Lauis had the child's feet pinned together so that the child's ghost could not walk. He ordered a shepherd to abandon the child on the mountain, but the shepherd gave the child to a friend of his. This friend gave the child to Polybus, king of Corinth, and his wife Meriope. Years passed, now Lauis thought the child was dead, he no longer had any worries except the Sphinx. While Lauis was visiting Delphi to figure out how to get rid of the Sphinx, his brother-in-law Creon declared that whoever can solve the riddle of the Sphinx can become the next king of Thebes. Meanwhile, the (now grown-up) child, named Oedipus, wondered who his parents were but his adoptive mother did not want to reveal his parents to him. So he decided to visit Delphi, where an oracle informed him that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Horrified, he abandoned Corinth. On the way to Thebes he met the Sphinx. The Sphinx, as usual, posed him a riddle: "What goes on four legs in the morning, two at noon and three in the evening?". Oedipus solved the riddle with “Man,” or a human being. The Sphinx, in anger, threw himself off the cliff. There were many questions in this myth as to why the Sphinx was in the story if the original sphinx was in Egypt..