Ya gotta love mythology… enigmas and all. If you’re referring to
Greek myth… she’s a She Monster with a woman’s head and breasts, a
lion’s body, a serpent’s tail and an eagle’s wings. It was sent by
Hera to punish the people of Thebes and it settled on Mount Phicium
on the road to the city devouring all passers-by who could not answer
a riddle taught to it by the Muses.
And then we come to the Egyptians who considered him a He. He is the
original… a huge stone statue with a man’s head and a lion’s body.
He is located 300 meters southwest of the Great Pyramid at Giza. He
is 200 feet long and 70 feet high and 30 feet wide across the
shoulders.
I digress with a quick aside. There may be those few amongst you who
might instantly think hey… no way this huge thing could be studded
with diamonds and made into a platinum brooch. To those of you who
might indeed decide to embark on that futile road to nowhere… I am
here to tell you you are wrong. I now return to my fact laden
informa- zine.
He is… of course… the Sphinx. A stele between his paws says he
represents the sun god Harmackis. His age and his function are
unknown … unless of course you want to consider he might well have
been put on this earth for the sole purpose of posing for a jeweler
who would one day make a piece of jewelry in his image.
The Sphinx… be he statue or brooch… represents the union of
physical and intellectual powers as well as human mastery of bestial
nature. Personally… I do not think this last is possible. The
riddle of the Sphinx has numerological meaning. To whit: 4+3+2 = 9…
the number of man… with 4 representing the ignorant man… 2 the
intellectual man… and 3 the spiritual man. What happens–I
wonder–if you’re a ten? Into which category would you fit? Is ten
the Super Man… vulnerable only to kryptonite? The Sphinx is the
mystery of nature. Those who can not solve her riddle are doomed to
die stupidly. This surely means that those who do indeed solve her
riddle will die burdened with great intelligence. Which is better I
wonder. Write to me… guide me… help me along the road of life so
that when the time comes for me to solve the great riddle I will be
able to make an educated choice. Die dumb or die smart… that is
the question. Whether 'tis noble to leave this earth an idiot or a
genius…
In the meantime I have an image of this antique brooch of a
regimental type brooch of a recumbent Sphinx of perhaps mixed
variety… part Egyptian… part Greek. What we seem to have here is
a failure of a jeweler to make up his/her mind. Though clearly
labeled Egypt the damn thing has breasts. It is made of platinum with
pav set European old-mine single and rose cut diamonds sitting on a
plinth. Circa 1920’s. Value: over $2100.00.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Current Tidbits… and you will get to view a Sphinx shaped brooch
which–though raised on a narrow plinth reading Egypt–raises doubts
as to the thorough knowledge of mythology by its creator.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark