OEDIPUS - THE TRAGEDIES

EXCERPT

As he was crossing Mount Phikion, he caught sight of the Sphinx, perched on a rock beside the road.

The Sphinx was a monster with a woman’s head and breasts, the body of a lion, an eagle’s wings, iron talons and a tail which ended in a dragon’s jaws. This creature was the daughter of Typhoon and Echidne, and the Thebans lived in terror of her. Her claws could tear men and animals to shreds, and many a brave young fellow who had found the courage to challenge her had died in the attempt. Her favourite way of luring victims to destruction was to stop passers-by and give them a knotty riddle to solve. No one could ever answer, and each time, the Sphinx devoured another victim. However, it was said that if anyone could come up with the solution, the Sphinx would throw herself from the rock in furious rage and be dashed to pieces. Just what the riddle was, no one had ever learned, for of all those who had gone to hear it, none had ever returned.

Yet when the fearless Oedipus laid eyes on the Sphinx, he approached her determined to rid Thebes of her pestilential presence or die in the attempt like all the others.

Having caught sight of him, the winged monster showed no sign of wanting to attack. She preferred to humiliate the hero first by setting him a riddle he could never solve.

“What is the creature,” she asked him, “which moves in the morning on all fours, walks upright on two legs at noon, and in the evening walks three-legged?”

Copyright © by Dimitris Stefanidis. All rights reserved.