Solving the Riddle of the Sphinx, becoming King of Thebes, and starting a family with his new Queen Jocasta sounds like a life of a blessed man. A man named Oedipus whose life is not all it appears to be. ... Here his mind pays off when he solves the Riddle of the Sphinx that took many lives before him. In one of his rages he says, "I stopped the Sphinx! ... Oedipus the King may have been able to solve the Riddle of the Sphinx, but soon finds out he is solving the riddle of his own life....

• Word Count: 925
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Before the opening scene, Oedipus's hubris and impiety have already led him toward self-destruction. ... Also, he impudently belittles the gods by claiming his intelligence alone freed the people from the sphinx "With no help from the birds" (606). ... Because of his intellect Oedipus is rated "first of men" (600). He is the only one capable of solving the sphinx's riddle to free the city of Thebes (600). ... In discovering fate, and dealing with its truth Oedipus also illustrates profound courageousness. ...

• Word Count: 377
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Sophocles' Oedipus, the King is a great representation of Greek tragedy and of the human experience. ... His primary focus as the story begins and progresses is the growth of Oedipus from an unintelligible and unenlightened mentality to its antithesis. ... Then, when he arrived at Thebes, he met the Sphinx, a monster who guarded the gates of the city and correctly answered its riddle and was rewarded with the title of king of Thebes and was given the hand of the re-cently widowed queen, Jocasta. ... The story begins after some time after Oedipus has taken the throne and when there is a ...

• Word Count: 545
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Is this true of Oedipus? In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the main character Oedipus is seen to follow his prophesized fate, which ends in his downfall. ... He, and his citizens have complete confidence in this one man who has saved them once before from the plague of the evil sphinx by solving her riddle of "what crawls on 4 legs in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and 3 at night?" ... Oedipus has great difficulty in believing the words of others who dispute any set ideas or beliefs he has in his mind. ... Oedipus manipulates his fate unwillingly to conform to that of the oracles h...

• Word Count: 859
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is a famous Greece tragical play. ... Oedipus, the King of Thebes is highly renowned and prosperous. Oedipus had saved the city of Thebes from Sphinx and because of this, people in Thebes looked up to him. They rely on and look to Oedipus for safety in times of need. ... Again it shows the people in Thebes look to Oedipus with the utmost respect. ...

• Word Count: 569
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

A shepherd rescues the child, Oedipus, and gives him to his king, Polybus, King of Corinth. As Oedipus grows up, he learns from an oracle that he will kill his father and marry his mother. ... Continuing on his way he then passes a riddling sphinx and guesses the answer, lifting a curse on Thebes, allowing Oedipus to become King, win the hand of Jocasta, Queen of Thebes and have 4 children: Eteocles, Polynice, Antigone, and Ismene. ... Through Oedipus" determination to seek the murderer, the shepherd who "rescued" Oedipus the baby comes forth, revealing his story, which leads to the downfa...

• Word Count: 696
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate