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#14137 11/13/01 10:04 PM
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F notes that the Sphinx's riddle is glossed from a whole nother story.
Hercules, is it not? Or is my nose out of joint?




#14138 11/14/01 12:02 AM
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Bingley wrote, Immanuel Velikovsky had the theory that the story of Oedipus was actually a memory of the pharaoh Akhenaten...

If you Google ["Immanuel Velikovsky" Oedipus], there's some really interesting information about Velikovsky's analysis of why the Oedipus myth came out of Egyptian lore. Faldage suggested I check it out, and I did. One salient point Velikovsky made was the appearance of the sphinx in Sophocles, a most decidedly un-Grecian monster and ultra-Egyptian one. Velikovsky also points out that the meeting of the three roads where Oedipus kills his father in the Sophocles tragedy would have been unusual in how roads were laid in Greece, but not unusual in roads meeting at an oasis as shown on ancient Egyptian maps. There's by far more fodder at the trough of Velikovsky if you have some time....

Best regards,
DubDub


#14139 11/14/01 01:54 PM
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Winged Moon Goddess of Thebes representing the two parts of the Theban year; the lion for the waxing part and the serpent for the waning part. The new king gives his devotions to her before marrying the Queen, which he must do to become king. The riddle was invented to explain the image of an infant, a warrior and an old man worshipping Her.

This according to Graves in The Greek Myths.




#14140 11/14/01 02:01 PM
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the appearance of the sphinx in Sophocles, a most decidedly un-Grecian monster and ultra-Egyptian one.

The Greek Sphinx and the Egyptian Sphinx are decidedly diferent thangs. The former with wings and a serpents tail, the latter with just a plain old lion's bod and a human head. It's like comparing horses and unicorns.


#14141 11/14/01 02:37 PM
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I was interested to learn that the etymology of "Sphinx" carries forward to two very vital structures in the human alimentary canal, exceedingly important check points! The duodenal sphincter and the,er, final one.


#14142 11/14/01 03:52 PM
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Again according to Graves, sphinx means the throttler. Perhaps the Egyptian Sphinx was so named simply for its superficial resemblance to the Greek Sphinx.


#14143 01/03/02 09:16 PM
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We've all heard that poor Ariadne gave that turd Theseus who was to betray her,
a ball of string to help him find his way back out of the Labyrinth after killing the
Minotaur. From this we get clew, meaning a ball of cord, and also clue, meaning
information leading to a solution of a problem. But WHAT IN HELL DID ARIADNE
CALL IT?


#14144 01/03/02 09:22 PM
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WHAT IN HELL DID ARIADNE CALL IT?

She probably called it a ball of cord. In Minoan, of course.


#14145 01/03/02 09:29 PM
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OK, wise guy. WHAT IN HELL DID THESEUS CALL IT?


#14146 01/04/02 01:53 AM
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My ticket out.-Theseus


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