The Sphinx so impressed the philosopher Hegel that he pronounced the creature " the symbol of the symbolic itself." The lavishly illustrated "Book of the Sphinx" confirms Hegel' s lofty judgment, finding the Sphinx not just as the guardian of the pyramids on Egypt's Giza plateau or as the beautiful man-eater with a deadly riddle in Greek mythology but in tragedies, paintings, and opera as well as murder mysteries, brothels, bars, and advertisements.

Willis Goth Regier has pursued Sphinxes at the University of Nebraska, Johns Hopkins University, and Harvard University. He now seeks Sphinxes at the University of Illinois.

List of Illustrations

Preface

1. Phix and Horemakhet

2. Secrets

3. Confrontations

4. Riddles

5. Body

6. Eros

7. Mind

8. Symbol of Symbols

9. Exit

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index