I’m beginning to wonder whether I should have called this blog “Affinity for Sphinxes” judging by my recent posts.
Nevertheless, on Saturday morning my girlfriend and I paid a visit to The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, where they had an exhibit called “Heroes: Mortals & Myths in Ancient Greece.” Around the exhibit were various bits of information about the different characters and creatures in Greek Mythology. Obviously, I couldn’t help but be drawn to this little blurb:
“Sphinx [sfingks] was a monster, usually represented as having the torso of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. Seated on a rock outside of the city-state of Thebes, she posed a riddle to travelers, killing them when they answered incorrectly, as all did before the Greek hero Oedipus. When he answered her riddle correctly, the Sphinx killed herself.”
So often we see some sort of mythological creature on our cards, yet rarely do we give any thought to the mythology of that creature, and how the WotC creative team uses that mythology to guide them in adding flavor to our beloved game.
Maybe it’s a stretch, but you can almost apply the above to Sphinx of Jwar Isle. Once it hits the table, it “poses a riddle” to your opponent, and it’s difficult to find an answer for it. If you don’t find the correct answer, it will likely kill you. But if you answer it correctly (with, for example, Gatekeeper of Malakir or Fleshbag Marauder), it kills itself.
Just a thought!
By the way, you may have noticed the changes in the appearance of Affinity For Islands (and if you haven’t noticed, either I messed up somewhere or you might need your eyes examined). Let me know what you think!
Coming later this week: Yo! MTG Taps! #3 – More Standard Discussion!
Affinity For Islands 