The Sphinx is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe about a man who decides to visit a relative living near the Hudson River, north of New York City, for two weeks during a cholera epidemic that occurred during the summer of 1832. One day during this visit, the man is reading a book near the window revealing a scenic view of the river. His attention is focused upon the epidemic nevertheless, and when he glances up from the pages, the man sees a ghastly sight in the distant hills-there an enormous creature larger than any oceangoing ship is climbing down!