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The Sphinx is significant to 'Oedipus Rex' as the meansby which subsequent Theban King Oedipus gets into Thebes. The Sphinx guards all entries to and exits from the city. No one goes anywhere without answering the Sphinx's riddle. Until Oedipus, no one has the answer. No answer, no life is the Sphinx's motto.
But Oedipus knows that man is the living being that walks on fours in the morning, on twos in the afternoon, and on threes in the evening of life. So the Sphinx ends up dead at the bottom of the nearby cliff. At the same time, the people of Thebes are delivered from fear and taxes.
With entry into Thebes, Oedipus is a hero. He's offered the Theban throne and Thebes' widowed queen Jocasta. These two consequences of Oedipus' entry into the city are necessary to the second fulfilling of his direly predicted fate. Specifically, it was predicted that he'd kill his own father and marry his own mother. He already killed an older man in a street brawl over a right-of-way. Unbeknownst to Oedipus, the stranger was his father, now deceased Theban King Laius. To seal his fate, Oedipus has to marry his own mother, who is Laius' grieving widow Jocasta.
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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 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.
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 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 was the purpose of the riddle of the Sphinx in 'Oedipus Rex'?
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.
What does Oedipus' success in killing the Sphinx years before lead the Priest to expect in 'Oedipus Rex'?
That Oedipus will end the pestilence is what his success in defeating the Sphinx years before leads the priest to expect in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus answers the seemingly unanswerable riddle of the monstrous Sphinx. The Sphinx commits suicide. No one else figures out how to defeat the Sphinx so the priest hopes that Oedipus' successful problem-solving will be repeated in regard to the current pestilence.
How does Oedipus save Thebes before he is king in 'Oedipus Rex'?
It is by defeating the Sphinx that Oedipus saves Thebes before he becomes king "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Sphinx asks a troublesome riddle of all incoming and outgoing Thebans. No answer or one that is incorrect means that the Sphinx gets to indulge her appetite for freshly killed Thebans. But Oedipus puts an end to the Sphinx by correctly answering her question. The Sphinx takes her own life, and Thebes flourishes.
What is the skill that Oedipus is proud to possess in 'Oedipus Rex'?
Solving problems is the skill that Oedipus is proud to possess in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus defeats the Sphinx. The Sphinx demands an answer to a challenging riddle. Not one of the incoming and outgoing Thebans figures out the answer. But Oedipus has the answer. He prides himself on his problem-solving abilities.
What is Oedipus most famous for in 'Oedipus Rex'?
It is for defeating the Sphinx that Oedipus is most famous in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Oedipus arrives at Thebes in the city's worst hours. A Sphinx camps outside and asks an impossible riddle upon pain of death. Oedipus figures out the answer and rids Thebes of the city's serial eater.
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.
Why does Oedipus bring up the Sphinx and call Teiresias a pious fraud in 'Oedipus Rex'?
That the crisis over the Sphinx is solved by Oedipus, not Teiresias, is the reason why Oedipus brings up the Sphinx and calls Teiresias a pious fraud in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Oedipus comes as a young man to Thebes. He defeats the Sphinx, who is asking an impossible question and killing and eating all Thebans who do not have the correct answer. Teiresias the blind prophet already is in Thebes, but does nothing to end the Sphinx's reign of terror. Oedipus refers to this to question Teiresias' motives for action and inaction.
