One of the most recognizable figures of antiquity, the Sphinx, took many forms in the civilizations of Greece, the Near East ...

In Greek mythology, it has a woman’s head; she asks riddles and eats those who fail to answer. The most famous sphinx is of course found in Egypt guarding the great pyramids of Khufu.

Leo the lion is central in myths: Hercules' Greek Nemean Lion, Jesus as the Lion of Judah, the Great Sphinx of Giza in Egyptian myth, Hindu goddess Durga’s protective lion, and Chinese 'foo ...

Later Greek writers, such as Herodotus and Pliny the Elder, contradict the notion of a single sphinx: there are plenty, they say, with Pliny putting them in the suitably distant land of Ethiopia.