“Which creature in the morning goes on four legs, at mid-day on two, and in the evening upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?” this question is the most famous question that Sphinx, who is said to be a guardian of the Greek city of Thebes, asks travelers to solve to gain entrance to the city. The Sphinx, a mythological creature with a lion’s body and a human head, is an important image in Greek art and legend such as “Oedipus the King”, as well as Egyptian mythology.
In Greek mythology, the sphinx is considered to be a female which also often has wings. She is described as a monster and she is very malevolent because she eats people who cannot give the correct answer for her riddles (Author last name/publisher). The most
…show more content…
In this legend, the sphinx is omniscient, and Oedipus has the temerity to challenge to her because she gives riddles that people do not know. However, Oedipus has too much self-confidence. In the legend, he tries to avoid his prophecy, so he leaves from his house and travels on the road. From his travel, he meets the sphinx and challenges to her, who is known as omniscient, which shows his hubris. This too much self-confidence and ego sometimes lead people to ruin their lives. However, he gives correct answer back to her which human and he can go through her but he does not. He challenge to her again and she gives second riddle, “there are two sisters; one gives birth the other, who in turn gives birth to the first. Who are they?” He answers this riddle too and she kills herself. The sphinx has related with the Muses and Oedipus tries to change his destiny and this sphinx situation shows his mind but at same time, Jocasta who is Oedipus real mother, declares a person who solves the sphinx’s riddles will marry with her and will be king of the Thebes. Therefore, he tries to change his destiny and it is showed by solving the sphinx’s riddle but his hubris of challenging leads him to follow his destiny. Even though he runs away from his fate, the fate will be