Sphinx of Naxos
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The Sphinx of Naxos, also Sphinx of the Naxians, now in the Archaeological Museum of Delphi, is a 2.22 meter tall marble statue of a sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a woman, the chest and wings composed of the impressive feathers of a prey bird turned upward, and the body of a lioness. The Sphinx stood on a 10 meters column that culminated in one of the first Ionic capitals, and was erected next to the Temple of Apollo in
Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...
, the religious center of Ancient Greece, in 560 BCE. The first fragments were excavated from the sanctuary of the Temple of Apollo in 1860. The remainder was found in 1893. It was originally set up on a
stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
around 560 BC as an offering to the Temple of Apollo by Naxos, one of the richest
Cycladic islands The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name ...
at the time. The overall height of the statue, the column and its base topped 12.5 meters. The Greek sphinx, a lion with the face of a human female, was considered as having ferocious strength, and was thought of as a guardian, often flanking the entrances to temples. Sphinxes depictions are generally associated with architectural structures such as royal tombs or religious temples.


Description

The famous Sphinx of the Naxians stood on a column that culminated in an
Ionic capital The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...
. The statue of this mythical creature stood on a towering Ionic column, which may have been the oldest Ionic construction project in the site of the Oracle of Delphi. Her statue had been set up close to the Halos, the most sacred spot of Delphi, where Apollo had presumably killed the python. According to tradition and its mythological representation, the Sphinx had the face of a woman bearing an enigmatic smile, prey bird wings, and the body of a lioness. It was carved from a large piece of Naxian marble. The solid construction combined elements that gave the statue a character of motion and vitality, such are the details that depict the hair, chest, and wings. It is also notable because it is an early example of carving in-the-round, as opposed to relief carving that was common during that time. The monument was made entirely of marble and reached 12.45 meters in height. The monument created awe to the visitors and constituted a typical example of Naxian sculpture in its peak period, i.e. in the sixth century B.C. On the base there was an inscription dated to 328-327 B.C., renewing the
promanteia Promanteia was the privilege, bestowed upon cities or individuals by the Oracle of Delphi, to ask the Pythia in priority. History In the course of the classical period the priests of Delphi established a series of honours bestowed upon those who ...
for the Naxians: Thus, the Naxians had the right to acquire oracles first.


Other columns

Many more similar columns crowned by sphinxes were discovered in ancient Greece, as in Sparta, Athens or Spata, and some were used as funerary steles. It has also been suggested that 6th century BCE Greek columns such as the Sphinx of Naxos may have been an inspiration for the pillars of Ashoka in 3rd century BCE India, following the contacts initiated by Alexander the Great in 320 BCE, and continued by the Greco-Bactrians and the Indo-Greeks. File:Pillar base of Sphinx of the Naxians (Delphi).jpg, Naxos Sphinx pillar base and notice. File:Sphinx of Naxos colored.jpg, Hypothetical color rendering of the Sphinx of Naxos. File:Naxos Sphinx in context.jpg, The Sphinx of Naxos in context (Temple of Apollo in the background). File:Sphinx of Naxos and Pillar of Ashoka.jpg, Sphinx of Naxos, 560 BCE, and a
Pillar of Ashoka The pillars of Ashoka are a series of monolithic columns dispersed throughout the Indian subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed with edicts by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka during his reign from c.  268 to 232 BCE. Ashoka used the expressi ...
, 250 BCE (here at
Lauria Nandangarh Lauria Nandangarh, also Lauriya Navandgarh, is a city or town about 14 km from Narkatiaganj (or Shikarpur) and 28 km from Bettiah in West Champaran district of Bihar state in northern India. It is situated near the banks of the Burh ...
). File:Marble stele (grave marker) of a youth and a little girl 530 BCE Greece.jpg, Funerary stela topped by a sphinx, 530 BCE, Greece.


References


External links

{{Commonscat-inline, Sphinx of the Naxians (Delphi) 560 BC 6th-century BC Greek sculptures Sphinx Naxos Statues in Greece Sculptures of classical mythology Sculptures of lions Sphinxes