ipl-logo

Sphinx In Oedipus The King

630 Words3 Pages

“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

Show More
Related

  • Sphinx King Taharqo

    291 Words  | 2 Pages

    When you take a closer look at the head of the sphinx, you might be

    Read More

  • Sphinx Research Paper

    397 Words  | 2 Pages

    While Greek has many interesting monsters, the Sphinx is the most intriguing. Nobody knows for a fact who the parents of Sphinx were, but she is a female monster, with a body of a lion, head and breasts of a woman, eagle wings, and serpent-headed tail. Greek Gods sent the Sphinx to the town of Thebes to plague it; while there, she brought terror, bad luck and death to the whole town, however, she mostly preyed on the youth. She stopped all travelers who crossed her path and presented them with a riddle, if they failed her riddle then she would eat them; (now it is easier to understand how Sphinx brought so much death to the town of Thebes). However, one day Oidipous solved her riddle and she threw herself off a mountainside in despair, therefore

    Read More

  • Sphinx Of Hatshepsut Essay

    954 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sphinx of Hatshepsut First association with the Egyptian culture for me is related to Sphinx. That’s why first what caught my eyes was Sphinx of Hatshepsut. No, of course, it is not that massive Great Sphinx in Giza, Egypt but his history is also interesting. This item is a sphynx of Pharaoh Hatshepsut with a human head and lion’s body.

    Read More

  • Sphinx Research Paper

    784 Words  | 4 Pages

    Justin Buchholz November 1, 2015 History 134 Sphinx By: Justin Buchholz Overtime, man has talked about many mythical beasts, monsters, and demons. For the Assyrians, one of their favorite mythical creatures to talk about was the mighty sphinx. The sphinx is typically shown “with the body of a lion, most often with a human head and sometimes with wings” (http://www.ancient.eu/sphinx/). The sphinx was also recognized as a symbol that was representative of multiple parts of the Assyrian society including trading, displaying the artistic aptitude of the Assyrians, as well as a guardian piece to the royals.

    Read More

  • Blindness And Vision In Oedipus The King

    686 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus the King is a tragedy that was written by Sophocles that emphasizes the irony of an irony of a man who was determined to trace down, expose and punish an assassin who in turn became him. Oedipus the King is also known as Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannus. The art is an Athenian play that was performed in ages approximated to be 429 BC. Oedipus the King would later in the play fulfill the prophecy that he would kill his father and later on marry his mother. There is a twist of an event in the play where Oedipus is looking for the murderer of his father to bring to a halt the series of plagues that are befalling Thebes but only to find he is in search of himself (Rado, 1956).

    Read More

  • Sight And Blindness In King Oedipus The King

    628 Words  | 3 Pages

    But now in a reversed position, Oedipus is a man that is physically blind but in truth is not. All things considered, Oedipus was in denial and was blinded from truth. As he came closer to the truth he finds himself praying that the prophecy will not come true. His earnestness causes a panic within him that leads him to abuse his power into changing his destiny. But as a result, all thing must come to an end especially Oedipus’s physical sight.

    Read More

  • Mood Messengers In Oedipus Rex

    1252 Words  | 6 Pages

    This blindness towards doom is made even more ironic by the fact that he was made king by his knowledge and insight. Oedipus was known as the person who solved the famous riddle of the Sphinx, a monster which terrorized the citizens. As the play proceed, we can see how much of a contrast between the two groups of character there is, even the messengers knows stuff that the king doesn’t. Sentences like “My son, it is clear that you don’t know what you are doing” (Sophocles 55) salutes to the ignorance of the supposedly “wise” king. Using words like “son”, Sophocles gives an sign that even the messenger It illustrates the flaws that exist in Oedipus, amplifies it by comparing him to other who are supposedly

    Read More

  • Nobility In Oedipus The King

    444 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the tragedy of Oedipus the King, Oedipus displays his imperfectly noble being for all to see. While Oedipus had saved the Thebans from the Sphinx’s riddle, Oedipus’s nobel pride and anger lead to his destruction as he attempted to find Laios’s murderer. In his mistreatment of Teiresias, and his false allegations towards Creon being a usurper, Oedipus shows his imperfectly noble character as he foolishly attempts to fight fate and the gods will. Oedipus and his imperfectly noble nature appear again and again as he attempts to solve the murder of the previous King.

    Read More

  • Importance Of The Sphinx Riddle In Oedipus

    1284 Words  | 6 Pages

    Oedipus is defined as Latinized form of the Greek Οιδιπους (Oidipous), meaning "swollen foot" from (oideo) "to swell" and πους (pous) "foot". In Greek legend Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta. He unwittingly slew his father and married his mother. Oedipus was a great king but the Sphinx riddle was a perfect analogy of Oedipus’s life and this is evident through the plot events. Firstly there is three parts of the sphinx riddle, and the first part of the riddle was “What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning…” this riddle was first mentioned in the story when Oedipus wanted to pass through the gates of Thebsis but was stopped by the sphinx.

    Read More

  • Oedipus Tragic Flaw Essay

    577 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus was a tragic hero he was seen as a great man and was king,but he fell to misfortune because of his disability to see past his pride and anger which led to his demise. By not being able to see past his pride and anger Oedipus was not able to to avoid his prophetic destiny. He was blinded by his pride and anger so much that it became his tragic flaw ultimately leading him to his

    Read More

  • Theme Of Hubris In Oedipus Rex

    1286 Words  | 6 Pages

    Oedipus Rex Henry Rollins once stated, “Weakness is what brings ignorance, cruelty, and pride, all these things that will keep a society chained to the ground, one foot nailed to the floor.” In Sophocles play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus, the king of Thebes, weakness is his fate. Throughout the play, Oedipus is trying to outrun his fate because he feels the gods are subordinate to his powerful figure. Oedipus is seen as a god throughout Thebes because he defeated the mighty Sphinx, who was once haunting over the city. After defeating the Sphinx, Oedipus took over as king by killing his father and coupling his mother as his hubris blinded him from reality.

    Read More

  • Knowledge In Oedipus The King

    479 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning Oedipus know very little, he came from corinth to thebes like a stranger he doesn't know the mess he is in and the mess about to occur. Other people know, and hide the truth from oedipus. Oedipus has killed his father, saved thebes from the sphinx and its riddle, and become king. The citizens believe that solving the Sphinx’s riddle makes Oedipus wise.

    Read More

  • Sight Vs. Blindness In Sophocles Oedipus The King

    1063 Words  | 5 Pages

    First, he was blind to the truth about his own life. Oedipus had no idea that his real parents were Laius and Jocasta, he was so blind that he got mad at anyone that would even suggest an idea such as that. As the story went on though, Oedipus could no longer run from the truth; he was forced to open his eyes to the reality and truth of his life. Oedipus killed his father and married his mother; he is the brother to his own kids and the son of his own mother. Oedipus was the one that was causing all of the downfall and bad times in Thebes.

    Read More

  • The Sphinx Or Science By Francis Bacon Analysis

    779 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Chapter “XXVIII Sphinx or Science” from the book “Of the Wisdom of the Ancients” published in 1857, written by Francis Bacon discusses the ancient mythical creature, the Sphinx. Mr. Bacon, who is an English Philosopher, describes the ancient story of the Sphinx and gives his interpretation of the purpose and thoughts of the story of the creature, and he also compares it to science. Francis Bacon describes the Sphinx as having”the face and voice of a virgin, the wings of a bird, the claws of a griffin” (Bacon 1857).In the story, the Sphinx preys on men, waiting for them to approach the area where she is located and presented them with a quite complicated riddle to solve. Typically, the men who tried their hand at the riddles would not put a logically thought into their answer. If the men got the answer wrong, without hesitation the Sphinx killed them where they stood.

    Read More

  • Oedipus The King Research Paper

    1224 Words  | 5 Pages

    Oedipus the King is one of the most ironic plays ever written. Sophocles, the author, is a famous philosopher of the ancient times The Play is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who kills his father and marries his mother. An oracle warned Laius, the king of Thebes prior to Oedipus, that his son would murder him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta, had a son, he exposed the baby by first pinning his ankles together. The infant, who was adopted by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife was then brought up as their very own.

    Read More

More about Sphinx In Oedipus The King

Open Document