The Sphinx. An iconic mythological creature with a rep for trickery and tyranny. Body
of a lion, wings of a bird, head of a human… in many a legend, the Sphinx was not to be
messed with… but what if it was real? Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest
Questions. I am your host, Rebecca Felgate and today we’re talking about some ancient
mythology brought to life as we ask What if the Sphinx was Real? Before we get started,
I just want to ask you guys to leave us a comment letting us know which mythical animal
or beast you would most like to be real. I’m gonna go with leprechauns! Also, while you
are down there, why don’t you hit that thumbs up button and click on that notification bell
so that you’re the first to hear a big answer! The Sphinx traces its origin back to both
Ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Egyptian, each painting a slightly different version
of the creature. Both were well versed in riddles, but the Greek mythology paints its
sphinx generally as merciless and deceitful females who kill and eat those who cannot
answer their riddles. In Egyptian mythology, they’re mainly benevolent but immensely
strong men who seem to have a link with the asterological and supernatural as well as
being guardians to the entrance of temples. So – to put it simply if the Sphinx was
real… we would need to know what kind of Sphinx we were dealing with – nice or nasty.
Although I am not sure if we could just waltz up to it like Glinda in the Wizard of Oz and
ask if it were a good sphinx or a bad sphinx… because we might get eaten.
In ancient Greek, Oedipus meets a Sphinx who had taken up residence in Thebes and was killing
passersby who couldn’t answer her riddle. I don’t know how many Sphinx would exist
today, but assuming they saw a similar population as they did in Ancient Greek and Ancient Egyptian
mythology, they wouldn’t be a day to day occurrence. Perhaps we would develop Sphinx
Reports, like Grizzly Bear reports, when they meander off trail. That being said, the Sphinx
are more intelligent than Grizzly Bears, who are just living their lives in nature. With
the Greek reading, anyway, it seems the Sphinx plant themselves in big cities to cause maximum
damage. Cities like New York, Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Mumbai, Bangkok…
they could all fall victim to a Sphinx. Sphinx can fly, so it is possible that air traffic
controls would be able to see one coming. Would we want to shoot them down to avoid
death tolls of people who can’t solve their riddles? Would shooting them down cause a
whole flock of the beasts to descend on a city?
If Sphinx were real, people would need to be well versed in riddles for their own safety,
for answering a riddle is the only way to survive a bad Sphinx. I have to say, a part
of me is kind of happy about this. Imagine if self protection relied on you using your
brain, rather than your finger on a trigger? Perhaps if this were the case, from the off
people would be better thinkers and problem solvers…maybe we would be more literary,
shrewd and discerning…which may make us better in so many ways in day to day life….
oooor maybe we would have made phone apps to solve sphinx riddles. Why use our brains
to solve day to day problems, when we can use our brains to invent a device that makes
using our brains to solve problems defunct. The sphinx are intelligent and treacherous,
though… they never stop using their brains! Perhaps they’d find a way to disable the
phone networks, then we would be screwed. If Sphinx were real, then perhaps there would
be a whole new line of business and job roles for some people – Riddle solvers! Don’t
get me wrong, these would be risky jobs, but they would be well paid. A sphinx in a city
would no doubt be national news, especially with the death and destruction they tend to
bring. These riddle solvers would be sent in to try and crack the Sphinx’s puzzle
and I imagine these conversations would be televised and cause for huge celebration when
they managed the task. Sure, the televised events would be gruesome, either people would
see the riddle solver be eaten alive by the sphinx, or we would watch the sphinx devour
itself when defeated, either way… perhaps these would become the new reality TV show
of the day! What could be more exciting. I wonder if the male Egyptian sphinx and female
Greek sphinx mate? I guess they must to keep the population alive. The men are supposed
to be ferocious in strength, but much nicer. Perhaps if the lady Sphinx got too much, we
would send in a few chappies to try and distract her…try and quell her civilian killing.
We’ll see how that one goes. The Egyptian Sphinx have been linked to the
supernatural and astrological powers. British writer Graham Hancock wrote of an alignment
between the great Sphinx statue of Giza, the pyramids, and the Nile River with the stars
of the constellations Leo and Orion and the Milky Way. He thought the Sphinx was meant
to harvest power… maybe our tricky mates, the Sphinx could give us some clues as to
what all that is about – they’re pretty clever. Maybe they know something we don’t.
Little factual nugget it for you – but sphynx actually do exist, there is a breed of cat
called the Sphynx, spelled with a y, which originated in Toronto, Canada no less. These
are much smaller, more feline and less winged and less murderous, to humans, anyway….
Try telling that to the mice. Luckily we are rather a long way off these little house dwellers
become the monstrous pests known in ancient times!
So there is what I think would happen if the Sphinx was real. What do you have to say on
the topic. Let me know in the comments section down below. Also, let me know which mythical
animal or beast you would most like to be real!
Thanks for tuning into this video, please do leave a thumbs up, share this video with
a friend and stay subscribed for more big answers. I am your host, Rebecca Felagate,
I’ll catch you in the next video. Until then, stay curious, stay alert and never ever
stop questioning!