Post by Mlle Bienvenu on Oct 23, 2004 18:59:27 GMT -5
This probably doesn't have to do with anything, but when I first read "The Neverending Story" This paragraph about sphinxes struck me as interesting....
'Through my telescope you have seen the first, the Great Riddle Gate. And the two sphinxes. That gate is always open. Obviously. There's nothing to close. But even so, no one can get through' - here Engywook raised a tiny forefinger - 'unless the sphinxes close their eyes. And do you know why? The gaze of a sphinx is different from the gaze of any other creature. You and I and everyon else - our eyes take something in. We see the world. A sphinx sees nothing. In a sens she is blind. But her eyes send something out. And what do her eyes send out? All the riddles of the universe. That's why these sphinxes are always looking at each other. Because only another sphinx can stand a sphinx's gaze. So try to imagine what happens to one who ventures into the area where those two gazes meet. He freezes to the spot, unable to move until he has solved all the riddles of the world. If you go there, you'll find the remains of those poor devils.'
Anyway, I think it's interesting that this references the sphinxes eyes so highly...and the sphinx in hedgmaze had the same shaped eyes as harry and his mum... It also reminded me of Priori Incantatem, how harry and LV's wands couldn't fight each other...
I'm not saying HP has anything to do with this... but maybe JKR was inspired by Michael Ende's book...
'Through my telescope you have seen the first, the Great Riddle Gate. And the two sphinxes. That gate is always open. Obviously. There's nothing to close. But even so, no one can get through' - here Engywook raised a tiny forefinger - 'unless the sphinxes close their eyes. And do you know why? The gaze of a sphinx is different from the gaze of any other creature. You and I and everyon else - our eyes take something in. We see the world. A sphinx sees nothing. In a sens she is blind. But her eyes send something out. And what do her eyes send out? All the riddles of the universe. That's why these sphinxes are always looking at each other. Because only another sphinx can stand a sphinx's gaze. So try to imagine what happens to one who ventures into the area where those two gazes meet. He freezes to the spot, unable to move until he has solved all the riddles of the world. If you go there, you'll find the remains of those poor devils.'
Anyway, I think it's interesting that this references the sphinxes eyes so highly...and the sphinx in hedgmaze had the same shaped eyes as harry and his mum... It also reminded me of Priori Incantatem, how harry and LV's wands couldn't fight each other...
I'm not saying HP has anything to do with this... but maybe JKR was inspired by Michael Ende's book...
