Next to Skraeling is a smaller island, Stiles, known locally as the Sphinx for its resemblance to the famous stone figure at Giza. The Sphinx: a lion with a human head. An Egyptian monument so named by Europeans for its resemblance to a winged monster in Greek mythology, one that lived in Thebes and was outwitted by Oedipus. The appellation seems bizarre here, someone’s effort to diminish and subjugate the unknown, like putting a party hat on a dog.
