The Sphinx (by Barbara Kaufman) is a dangerous woman. She is seductive, powerful and vulnerable. We note a fusion of roles: she is a voluptuous female, a seductress. She is a cat, a lioness, or a fighter, and a bird, an eagle, she can fly away.

In Greece, male gods like Zeus dominate the family. The Homeric Epics celebrate the vows of marriage as Helen consenting to marry Menelaus. Helen, the Sphinx, is a woman of fight and flight.

In those roles she manifested herself as both Iokasta, the mother of Oedipus and as Helen, the fairest of them all. Helen broke her marital vows and was punished by the betrayed suitors who had confronted Helen to choose one among them. She had chosen Menelaous, but she broke her marital vows as she flew the coop with Paris to Troy.The suitors retaliated, they started the Trojan war to teach a lesson to the matriarchal woman. They established respect for the marital institution.

This sculpture presents the Homeric Epics' impact in transforming the angry woman into a loving yet hostile partner.