The Riddle of the Sphinx

When Oedipus grew up, he once attended a festival. There he became so proud and arrogant that one of the others grew angry and shouted that he was just a foundling. Oedipus saw the frightened faces around him, and for the first time he began to wonder if he had not been told the truth about his parents. So he sought out an oracle to get answers.

Instead of giving him a straight answer—something the oracles rarely did—the voice said: 'Oedipus, beware! You are doomed to kill your father, marry your mother, and bring disaster upon your hometown!'

Terrified by this prophecy, and absolutely certain that the king and queen of Corinth were his parents, Oedipus decided to leave home forever. He did not even dare to go in to say goodbye to his family, but set out alone and on foot to seek his fortune elsewhere.

As he walked, he thought about his misfortunes and became very bitter toward the cruel goddess of fate whom he had learned to fear. He believed that this goddess could control everything as she pleased, and that it was she who had said he would commit the terrible crimes he was trying to avoid.

After several days of aimless wandering, Oedipus finally came to a crossroads. There he met an old man sitting in a carriage, and in front of him was a herald who haughtily ordered Oedipus to get out of his master's way.

Since Oedipus had been raised as a prince, he was used to everyone giving way for him. He therefore proudly refused to move. When the herald lifted his staff to strike, Oedipus drew his sword and killed him.

The old man became angry at this act of violence, stepped out of his chariot, and attacked Oedipus. Now the young man did not know that it was his father Laius he was meeting for the first time, so he threw himself upon him and killed him as well. The servants were also killed when they, in turn, attacked him. So Oedipus continued his journey calmly, without suspecting that the first part of the oracle's prophecy had been fulfilled.

Right after this fight, Oedipus came to the city of Thebes. The streets were full of excited people talking over each other, and the young prince soon learned the reason for the commotion.

It turned out that a terrible monster called the Sphinx had settled on one of the main roads into the city, and let no one pass who could not answer a riddle it asked. The creature had the head of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. Since it ate everyone who could not guess the riddle, people were very scared.

Many people had already been killed, for although the bravest men had gone out to kill it, they had lost their lives in the attempt, because no one could harm it without having guessed the puzzling riddle.

King Laius, hoping to get an answer to the riddle from the oracle at Delphi, had ridden away in his chariot. But people became even more upset when a runner came sprinting into the city and said that the king and all his servants had been killed by robbers, and that their dead bodies had been found in the middle of the road.

Oedipus paid no attention to this news, for he had no idea that the old man he had killed was the king whom everyone loved and now mourned with loud lament.

He was, however, very interested in the story of the Sphinx, and was so sure that he could guess the riddle that he immediately set out to find the monster. He walked boldly along the road until the Sphinx stopped him and asked him to answer this riddle if he wanted to live: "What creature walks on four legs in the morning, on two at noon, and on three in the evening?"

After a few moments of deep thought, Oedipus answered that the creature was man. "For," he said, "in the morning of life, as a child, man crawls on hands and knees; at noon, in adulthood, he walks upright; and in the evening, in old age, he leans on a staff."

The Sphinx's riddle had been guessed, and the monster knew its power was gone. It tried to escape, but Oedipus did not let it go. He drew his sword and forced it backwards until it fell off a cliff, down onto the sharp rocks below, and was crushed.