The Sphinx is seen in two cultures, the Egyptians used the Sphinx as a statue, which had the body of the lion and the head of a human, and sometimes the sphinx had wings. Sphinxes were built to honour their kings who the head was normally a portrait of. The Greeks who visited Egypt much later gave the name Sphinx to these structures. The Greek sphinx was a creature of death and destruction and bad luck. The Sphinx was portrayed as a female creature as a winged lion with a feminine head, and sometimes a snake tail. The Sphinx was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. The Sphinx is sometimes seen as the guardian of temple entrances.