# The Sphinx at Giza explained — Fifty-One Tales

> Chapter companion for Fifty-One Tales by Lord Dunsany.

## What happens

The narrator observes the Sphinx's painted face and her flirtation with Time, hoping she will lure his secret from him so that humanity can blind and enslave Time, preventing him from destroying beautiful things. The chapter explores the futile human desire to control time and the fear that Time's ultimate anguish might bring down the House of Man.

## Themes in this chapter

### Time and Mortality

Time is personified as a destructive force that spares only the Sphinx's painted face, while all other beauty and cities fall to decay.

### The Futility of Human Ambition

Human attempts to bind Time with song, customs, or the Sphinx's wiles are only temporarily successful, and the narrator fears Time's ultimate revenge.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator observes the Sphinx and Time, expressing a desire to bind and blind Time.

### Time

Time is depicted as a fool dallying at the Sphinx's feet, smiting cities and carrying away beautiful things, but potentially vulnerable to being bound.

### Thlūnrāna

Not directly present, but the Sphinx is the central figure, painted and ogling Time.

## Key lines

> She had painted her face in order to ogle Time. And he has spared no other painted face in all the world but hers.

The Sphinx has made herself up to attract Time's attention, and Time has preserved her painted face while destroying all others.

_Highlights the unique relationship between the Sphinx and Time._

> If she ever finds his secret we will put out his eyes, so that he shall find no more our beautiful things

If the Sphinx learns Time's secret, humanity will blind him to prevent him from destroying more beauty.

_Expresses the human desire to control Time through the Sphinx's seduction._

> We will shut him up in the Pyramid of Cheops, in the great chamber where the sarcophagus is. Thence we will lead him out when we give our feasts. He shall ripen our corn for us and do menial work.

We will imprison Time in the Great Pyramid and force him to serve us, like a domesticated laborer.

_Illustrates the fantasy of enslaving Time and reversing the power dynamic._

> And yet I fear that in his ultimate anguish he may take hold blindly of the world and the moon, and slowly pull down upon him the House of Man.

But I worry that in his final desperation, Time might blindly grab the world and moon and collapse everything upon himself, destroying humanity.

_Reveals the underlying fear that controlling Time could lead to catastrophic consequences._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-sphinx-at-giza
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters