The Sphinx

In ancient Egypt, the Sphinx is a benevolent and solar figure. Depicted with a recumbent lion's body and a human head — sometimes crowned with a royal nemes — it symbolizes the god Harmakhis (Horus on the horizon), the sun at its rising. A protective guardian of sanctuaries and necropolises, it watches over sacred sites and repels the forces of chaos.

The Great Sphinx of Giza — carved directly into the rocky plateau around 2500 BCE — is the most famous example. Facing east, it greets the rising sun each morning, perpetuating the divine cycle of rebirth. Some sphinxes bear a falcon's head (evoking Horus) or a ram's head (Amon).

In Greek mythology, the Sphinx is a terrifying and malevolent creature: a lion's body, eagle's wings, dragon's tail and a woman's head. Born from the union of Typhon and Echidna, it belongs to the same lineage as Cerberus, the Hydra and the Nemean Lion.

Sent by Hera to punish the city of Thebes, the Sphinx settled on a cliff overlooking the entrance road and posed a riddle to every traveler. Those who could not answer were devoured on the spot. The city was paralyzed, its roads blocked, its king powerless.

The Sphinx always posed the same riddle: "What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?" No one could find the answer, and bodies accumulated around the cliff.

When Oedipus arrived at Thebes, he accepted the challenge. His answer was immediate: man. The infant crawls on all fours, the adult walks on two feet, the old man leans on a staff as a third leg. Hearing the correct answer, the Sphinx — struck by a counter-prophecy — threw itself off the cliff and died. Oedipus thus freed Thebes and became its king.

In the Hades Saga, the specter wearing the Sphinx surplice is Pharaoh — a name that fuses the two traditions of the Sphinx: the Egyptian royal figure and the riddle-posing monster of Greek mythology. This naming choice reflects Kurumada's erudition, layering two cultures to create an adversary charged with double symbolism.

Like the mythological Sphinx that blocks passage and devours travelers unable to answer its questions, Pharaoh of the Sphinx is a formidable guardian of Hades's realm. He embodies death through inaccessible knowledge — those who do not understand perish.