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Control was the purpose of the riddle of the Sphinx in the play Oedipus Rex ("Oedipus the King"). The Sphinx asked an apparently unanswerable question in order to establish authority over Thebes, guarantee food sources, instill fear, limit population, and monitor communication, enterprise, and transportation.

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Q: What was the purpose of the riddle of the Sphinx in 'Oedipus Rex'?
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Who solved the Sphinx's riddle in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Oedipus solved the Sphinx's riddle in the play Oedipus Rex ("Oedipus the King"). He alone understood that a people-killing Sphinx would pose an apparently unanswerable riddle about people.


What happens to the Sphinx when Oedipus solves the riddle in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Suicide is what happens to the Sphinx when Oedipus solves the riddle in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Sphinx demands upon pain of death the answer to an impossible riddle. Oedipus figures out the answer and thereby deprives the Sphinx of her food supply. In despair, she throws herself over a nearby cliff.


How did Oedipus bring the city of Thebes fortune in the book Oedipus Rex?

by answering the riddle of the sphinx and saving Thebes from the rule of the sphinx.


What is Oedipus famous for in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Defeating the Sphinx is what Oedipus is famous for in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the monstrous Sphinx camps outside the city of Thebes. She kills and eats all Thebans who cannot answer her seemingly unanswerable riddle. But Oedipus knows the answer and beats the Sphinx at her own game.


What is the Sphinx's riddle that Oedipus is able to solve in 'Oedipus Rex'?

The identification of the life form that moves on fours in the morning of life, on twos in the afternoon and on threes in the evening is the Sphinx's riddle solved by Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Sphinx demands upon pain of death that all who enter or leave Thebes must try to answer her riddle. No one figures out the answer, and many Thebans therefore end up killed and devoured by the Sphinx. But Oedipus knows that the answer is man and thereby is the only person who is able to solve the seemingly unanswerable riddle.

Related questions

Who solved the Sphinx's riddle in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Oedipus solved the Sphinx's riddle in the play Oedipus Rex ("Oedipus the King"). He alone understood that a people-killing Sphinx would pose an apparently unanswerable riddle about people.


What happens to the Sphinx when Oedipus solves the riddle in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Suicide is what happens to the Sphinx when Oedipus solves the riddle in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Sphinx demands upon pain of death the answer to an impossible riddle. Oedipus figures out the answer and thereby deprives the Sphinx of her food supply. In despair, she throws herself over a nearby cliff.


How did Oedipus bring the city of Thebes fortune in the book Oedipus Rex?

by answering the riddle of the sphinx and saving Thebes from the rule of the sphinx.


What is Oedipus famous for in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Defeating the Sphinx is what Oedipus is famous for in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the monstrous Sphinx camps outside the city of Thebes. She kills and eats all Thebans who cannot answer her seemingly unanswerable riddle. But Oedipus knows the answer and beats the Sphinx at her own game.


What is the Sphinx's riddle that Oedipus is able to solve in 'Oedipus Rex'?

The identification of the life form that moves on fours in the morning of life, on twos in the afternoon and on threes in the evening is the Sphinx's riddle solved by Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Sphinx demands upon pain of death that all who enter or leave Thebes must try to answer her riddle. No one figures out the answer, and many Thebans therefore end up killed and devoured by the Sphinx. But Oedipus knows that the answer is man and thereby is the only person who is able to solve the seemingly unanswerable riddle.


How is the Sphinx's riddle solved in 'Oedipus Rex'?

With Oedipus' answer of "man" is the way in which the Sphinx's riddle is solved in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Sphinx's riddle asks which life form moves on all fours in the morning of life, on twos in the afternoon and on threes in the evening. Oedipus alone knows that it is man who crawls as a baby through infancy, gets by on his own as an adult and needs a cane in old age. It is ironic that clever, results-oriented Oedipus nevertheless cannot solve the riddle of his own existence.


Why does the Sphinx destroy Thebes in 'Oedipus Rex'?

The Sphinx does not destroy the city of Thebes in "Oedipus Rex."Specifically, the monster sets up camp outside the city and forces everyone coming and going to answer a seemingly unanswerable riddle. Those who have no answer are killed by her. But Oedipus comes along and solves the riddle before the Sphinx can devour every last Theban or destroy the city.


Why do the citizens of Thebes make Oedipus their king in 'Oedipus Rex'?

It is because he defeats the Sphinx that the citizens of Thebes make Oedipus their king in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Sphinx asks a seemingly unsolvable riddle of all incoming and outgoing Thebes. Those who do not have an answer get killed and eaten by the Sphinx. A reward of marriage with widowed Queen Jocasta and job as king of Thebes is offered to whomever defeats the Sphinx. Oedipus knows the correct answer to the riddle, defeats the Sphinx, and gets the girl and the job.


What is the source of Oedipus' greatness in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Defeat of the Sphinx is the source of Oedipus' greatness in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the monstrous Sphinx asks Thebes a seemingly unanswerable riddle. She eats all Thebans who cannot give her the correct answer. But Oedipus figures out the answer and puts an end to the Sphinx before she puts an end to all Thebans.


What does Oedipus free Thebans from in 'Oedipus Rex'?

The Sphinx is what Oedipus frees Thebans from in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Sphinx appears outside Thebes after Theban King Laius goes to consult the Delphic oracle and never returns. She makes a monster out of herself by killing and eating all incoming/outgoing Thebans who cannot answer her riddle. Oedipus figures out the riddle, inspires the Sphinx to commit suicide, and thereby frees Thebes.


Who is the mythical beast that proposes a riddle to Oedipus in 'Oedipus Rex'?

The Sphinx is the mythical beast that proposes a riddle to Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Sphinx is a gruesome combination of body parts from a woman and from wildlife. She has a hostile attitude to mortals, whom she likes to kill and eat fresh. She originally comes to ancient Greece from Egypt or Ethiopia.


What is awarded to Oedipus for solving the Sphinx's riddle in 'Oedipus Rex'?

It is the widowed queen and throne of Thebes that Oedipus is awarded for solving the Sphinx's riddle in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Sphinx can no longer depend upon an unlimited supply of freshly killed Thebans as her favorite food source. Oedipus defeats her by solving her seemingly unsolvable riddle. Thebans reward Oedipus for saving their city by offering their recently widowed Queen Jocasta as his wife and the throne recently vacated by the death of Jocasta's husband, King Laius.