User blog:Cfp3157/Minotaur vs. Sphinx



Two of the most iconic creatures of mythology shall collide in a bestial battle to the death! The Sphinx, the majestic creature with the body of a lion and the deadly intelligence of man worshipped by the Egyptians, Greeks, and many others! The Minotaur, a monsterous hybrid trapped in the Labyrinth that hunted the innocent tributes of Athens! Intellect and speed shall clash with strength and fury when these two meet on the battlefield. But when the dust settles, only one monster can truly be....

THE DEADLIEST WARRIOR!!!

Minotaur


"...there lived a certain dreadful monster, called a Minotaur, which was shaped partly like a man and partly like a bull, and was altogether such a hideous sort of a creature that it is really disagreeable to think of him."

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

In the early days of Minos' reign, the king of Crete begged Poseidon to aid him by showing support through a snow white bull. Minos was to kill the bull, but lied to Poseidon and instead slaughtered one of his own once Minos took the throne from his brothers. Aphrodite punished the king of Crete by having his wife come overwhelmed with lust for the bull, conceiving an unnatural child with the bull. Minos had Daedalus to create a large maze for the beast, now dubbed the Minotaur, part man and part bull. Minos would later go to war with Athens, where he bested the Athenians. As tribute for sparring the city, Minos demanded seven young virgins and seven tributes to be sacrificed and sent to Crete, where they would be fed to the Minotaur. For several years this happened, the Athenians living in terror as this mysterious Minotaur devoured their children.

It was not until the entering of Theseus, the son of Aegeus, did the Minotaur's reign of terror end. As the lots were drawn to feed the Minotaur, Theseus volunteered to fight the hybrid monster. Thrown into the Labyrinth with the 13 other tributes, Theseus dualed with the Minotaur in a devastating battle. After much struggle, the Minotaur was finally overcome when Theseus grabbed the charging Minotaur by the horn, snapping it's neck and then impaling it on its own horn.

Sphinx


"Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?"

- The Riddle of the Sphinx

The "Sphinx" is a general term first introduced by the Greeks in mythology. Originally found by Greek sailors exploring North Africa and the Middle East, the sphinx of Greek mythology was a lion with the head of a woman and wings, who guarded the gates of Thebes. She would tell riddles to those that wished to enter, and would kill anybody who answered wrong. Because of this, for several years Thebes remained out of contact from the other city-states such as Sparta and Athens. However, one day, a man named Oedipus arrived at the gates of Thebes with the answer. As the Sphinx prowled over him with her riddle, Oedipus wisely replied with "Man", who crawls as a child, walks as an adult, and uses a cane in his elder years. In despair, the Sphinx commited suicide by falling to her own death.

However, in Egyptian mythology, the Sphinx represented something much different. Many assumed the Sphinx as a god, a symbol of their shapeshifting deities. The Sphinx's were also often assigned as the guads to the tombs of pharohs, the kings of Egypt. Though there are no notable Egyptian Sphinxes, the creature's elegance was matched only by it's brutal approach to combat.