Τηε Σπηινξ
This is the story of how Oedipus actually came to rule Thebes and marry his mother.
Sphinx by Gustave Moreau (1886)
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Once again the Oracle tells her story of what has come to be for Oedipus. Here she discusses the Sphinx who has the upper body of a woman, the lower body of a lion, and wings of a bird. She learned a riddle from the Muses and repeated it claiming that she would not leave until someone had solved her riddle, and that all those who failed would be killed. She promised that once someone had solved her riddle she would kill herself, but until that day came she would remain.
Of all the things to be told,
That "your child will end your life,
That he will rule your kingdom,
And make his mother, his wife."
This was the oracle given
To King Laius of Thebes;
So a son Jocasta must not bear
But these words they failed to heed.
So the child was sent away
In order to bypass fate,
But little did they know
That their attempts were just too late.
For their lives had already been determined,
And no matter what they tried
Laius’s life would be taken,
By his son’s hand he would die.
So the years did pass and Laius thought
His life he indeed did save.
But on his way home from Delphi
His son unknowingly sent Lauis to his grave.
So Creon, Laius's brother-in-law,
Took over the rule of Thebes
And was given an oracle about a sphinx.
These words he decided to heed.
So when the Sphinx came about
Creon did not put up a fight,
And declared whoever could answer her
Would rule Thebes and win Jocasta as a wife.
And so many a man came to solve
The riddle the Sphinx did say,
And yet all the men failed to know
And with their lives they had to pay.
But there was a man who heard the riddle
And knew the answer right away.
And so he left to tell the Sphinx
And end the dying that day.
No longer a child but now a man,
Oedipus set out on a quest
To solve the riddle of the Sphinx
And indeed he passed the test.
The Sphinx had questioned many
Of who had four legs, two legs, and then three,
But only had one voice, and was one being,
And Oedipus knew what it must be.
“It is a man,” he answered unafraid
For he knew the answer was right.
A child crawls on all fours, a man walks on two
And an old man uses a cane to keep him upright.
So Oedipus conquered the Sphinx,
And her promise she kept to all.
For if someone were to give her the answer
From a tower she’d throw herself and fall.
So because of the oracle given
Creon gave Oedipus the rule of Thebes,
And Jocasta became Oedipus’s wife
Not knowing the new life he leads.
So this is how it all came about,
How the oracle came to be true.
How Oedipus killed his father and married his mother-
In the end there was nothing they could do.
For Laius tried to save himself
By giving his son away,
And Oedipus vowed never to go to Thebes
In order to keep the oracle at bay.
But in the end the gods had known
That from the beginning their fates were sealed
Despite the knowledge that they had,
Despite the secrets that were revealed.
So once again we come to a close
And the question still remains,
What are the meaning of my words,
To what do my oracles pertain?
I did not change much of the story at all except for the way that it is presented. There are a couple different theories on the actual reason for the Sphinx but I kept the idea that seems to be the main one. The only real thing I changed was adding the idea in the end of the Oracle and the meaning of what she says because it was part of my other story and I want to continue using it throughout all of them.
Title: Sphinx (Author: Carlos Parada 1997)
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Στορψβοοκ Χοϖερπαγε
(Storybook Coverpage)
Οιδιπους
(Oedipus)
Ηλεχτρα
(Electra)
Ηλεχτρα ανδ Ορεστης
(Electra and Orestes)
