Oedipus, The Riddle Answered

12” X 17”

500.00

Oedipus found his way to Thebes in an effort to circumvent the prophecy he had received from the Oracle of Delphi. The prophesy stated he was destined to kill his father, and marry his mother. Hearing this, he had resolved to never return home to Corinth. On his journey, he had quarreled with, and killed a man at a crossroads. Unbeknownst to Oedipus, the man was Laius, his father. At another waypoint, he was confronted by the Sphinx, who asked him “What goes on four legs in the morning, two at midday, and three in the evening?” Undeterred by the beast suddenly before him, he calmly answered, “Man, who crawls on hands and knees as a babe, walks freely as an adult, and walks with a cane in old age.” Apoplectic, the Sphinx hurled herself off a cliff, and died. The plague on Thebes had been lifted, and Creon, regent of the city, offered Oedipus the throne, and marriage to the queen, Jocasta, who unbeknownst to Oedipus, was his mother. While the story of Oedipus today is remembered for the terrible fates endured by it’s characters, it should be noted that at his best, Oedipus was a man who met the embodiment of chaos with a calm determination, and defeated the violence thrust upon him with the power of reason.