There was a dreadful union between the giant immortal Typhon
And
the black fearful eyed Echidne, half serpent, half woman
The
Sphinx was the bizarre result of this most Unnatural union
And
it had the body of a lion and the upper parts of a woman
She
also had the wings of an eagle as well as the tail of a serpent
And
guarding the entrance to Thebes was how Her time was spent
Any
traveler who wanted to enter Thebes had to first get past her
And
to do that She would ask them a riddle that they had to figure
If
the travelers were able to figure out the riddle, they had to try
They
would pass safely by and she would by her own hand die
But
if they were unable to figure out the riddle, they were given
They
would not pass safely by and she would devour them then
Then
One day on the road to Thebes the Sphinx met with Oedipus
And
the Sphinx duly set him her complex riddle, which went thus
'So,
what creature walks on four in the morning on two by day
And on three in the evening?' you must answer to pass by this way
Oedipus thought for a while, and then said the answer was known
'It is a man. When he’s a baby, he crawls on four, When full grown
He walks on two, and when he is an old man, he leans on a staff.'
With that said she let out a terrible scream like an hysterical laugh
Then
the Sphinx threw herself to her death from atop the Acropolis
And
wise Oedipus was then granted entrance to Thebes forthwith
