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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 9553154" data-attributes="member: 58172">Regarding the sphinx, it derives from two reallife Egyptian traditions.The sphinx at rest, reclining, is the pharaoh secure in ones power. It has the lion body. The Sphinx at Giza is a famous example.The sphinx at war, standing on all fours, is the pharaoh ferocious in battle. It has the body of a leopard and wings. (Sphinxes at war are probably the two kruvim "cherubim" that are on the ark of the covenant.) Many pharaohs fought personally in combat.Both sphinxes have the head of the reigning pharaoh. Women pharaohs and men pharaohs both manifest sphinxes, thus the head can be female or male. Also some sphinxes are the spouse of the pharaoh.Sometimes a sphinx has human arms, palms held upward and facing outward, in a posture of prayerful supplication.The Greek tradition amalgamizes both Egyptian traditions, transmitting a specific famous individual sphinx who has a womans head, wings. This would be expected to be the sphinx at war, and to have the body of a leopard, but sometimes is assumed to have a lions body. In any case, originally this Greek sphinx would be the representation of a specific historical queen.The Greek term sphinx σφίγξ derives from the Egyptian word for a sphinx, shezep-anakh, literally a "living portrait". The image of the sphinx, whether a sculpture or a drawing, is understood to be the living presence of the sovereign.Ultimately, the sphinx is the representation of the palpable influence of a sovereign.When D&D borrows from reallife traditions, I feel it is important to take pains to represent the original reallife concept, because these are often significant to the respective reallife culture. But once this is achieved, I feel it is good for fantasy to play around with it. So, for example, as long as some sphinx has a human head, other sphinxes can be whatever, like "Astral Sphinx" with a lion head, and so on. I would refer to the novel lion-headed sphinx as a "leosphinx" form to distinguish it from the proper reallife sphinx forms.</blockquote>

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