Friday, October 4, 2019
I'm at a loss for blogging right now so bear with me
Thebes is probably one of the most well-known cities of ancient Greece. It's the setting of many myths, and archeological excavations found tablets from the Mycenaean period (1600-1100 BC) show settlements and the importance of the city even in the Bronze age. Thebes was a rival of Athens and sided with the Persians during the 480BC invasion. During the Macedonian period, they were one of the most dominant city-states. Finally, during the Byzantine period, they were famous for silk. Now in Greek mythohistory, Thebes has many titles one being "Seven-Gated Thebes". This is not to be confused with "One Hundred Gated Thebes" of Egypt. All I'm saying is that there is ONE sphinx and SEVEN gates. Basic math has taught me that 7-1=6. So there are SIX other gates anyone could have left from. Then tell me how the Sphinx single-handedly held an entire city hostage by guarding ONE of SEVEN exits. Can she teleport? Does she know if anyone has left from one of the seven gates that she is not guarding? Like I said, I'm at a loss for what to blog about. So someone please answer me this question because we deserve answers. I'm also open to literally any explanation because pretty much anything goes in ancient Greece at this point.
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2 comments:
I think that there are a couple possible explanations for how the sphinx would be able to terrorize the city of Thebes.
1. It can fly.
- Given that the beast has wings it could theoretically circle around the city waiting for someone to approach one of the gates,
Then when it spotted a victim it would swoop down and ask the riddle.
2. It could be guarding the most important/frequently used gate.
- There could have been one gate that was large enough to bring in carts, and thus if the sphinx guarded that one it could
effectively block the importation of large goods and other supplies. This could in some sense hold the city hostage.
All of these are purely conjecture, but I think that they could provide at least some explanation.
I think the reason the sphinx is able to hold the entire city of Thebes hostage is because its giant. The painting you showed may not be accurate. When I think of a sphinx, a familiar Egyptian statue comes to mind. That statue is pretty big and could probably move pretty fast. Mythical Thebes could also be smaller than real Thebes. Either way its a myth so were supposed to have some suspension of disbelief
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