Background Information (page 5)
Sphinx Victim
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The Riddle of the Sphinx |
| At the outskirts of the city, he encountered the Sphinx, a terrible monster with the wings of an eagle, the body of a lion, and the head of a woman. This Sphinx had been menacing Thebes by lying in ambush for travelers and then challenging them to answer to a riddle. If they could answer the riddle, which went like this: “What creature goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?” Oedipus immediately guessed that the answer was “man”: He crawls on all fours as an infant, walks on two legs as an adult, and leans on a cane in old age. Upon hearing Oedipus’s answer, the defeated Sphinx leaped into the sea. |
More images of Oedipus and the Sphinx: Painting on Greek Vase from 440 B.C. (Louvre Museum, Paris) Painting on Plate from 470 B.C (Vatican Museum, Rome) Painting on Canvas from 1808 A.D (Louvre Museum, Paris) Painting on Canvas from 1864 (Metropolitan Museum, NY) |
| http://www.darksites.com/souls/goth/chastel/Oedipus.html |
NEXT: Greek Drama Introduction Continued--A Hero's Welcome in Thebes
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