Transcript The Story of Oedipus and the Sphinx

The Story of Oedipus and the Sphinx
• It befell in times past that the gods, being
angry with the inhabitants of Thebes,
sent into their land a very troublesome
beast which men called the Sphinx. Now
this beast had the face and breast of a
fair woman, but the feet and claws of a
lion; and it was wont to ask a riddle of
such as encountered it, and such as
answered not aright it would tear and
devour.
• When it had laid waste the land many days,
there chanced to come to Thebes one Œdipus,
who had fled from the city of Corinth that he
might escape the doom which the gods had
spoken against him. And the men of the place
told him of the Sphinx, how she cruelly
devoured the people, and that he who should
deliver them from her should have the
kingdom. So Œdipus, being very bold, and also
ready of wit, went forth to meet the monster.
And when she saw him she spake, saying:
• "Read me this riddle right, or
die:
What liveth there beneath the
sky,
Four-footed creature that doth
choose
Now three feet and now twain
to use,
And still more feebly o'er the
plain
Walketh with three feet than What is the
rhyme scheme?
with twain?"
• And Œdipus made reply:
• "'Tis man, who in life's early day
Four-footed crawleth on his way;
When time hath made his strength
complete,
Upright his form and twain his feet;
When age hath bound him to the
ground
A third foot in his staff is found."
• And when the Sphinx found that her riddle
was answered she cast herself from a high
rock and perished.
• As a reward Œdipus received the great
kingdom of Thebes and the hand of the
widowed queen Jocasta in marriage. Four
children were born to them--two sons,
Eteocles and Polynices, and two daughters,
Antigone and Ismené
Examples
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I fly through the air
Due to a blow,
My dimples are showing,
I am the color of snow.
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It can hold things
Yet it can let them slip away
It is an entrance
But it is an exit, some say
You cannot see in one
Yet sometimes see through it you may
Examples
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I broaden your mind every night
I don't give up without a fight
Without me, the mornings aren't very funny
I am like your energizer bunny
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What is, oh, so bright
And turns on when day becomes night?
It is also a decoration
That helps with your notations.
Your Turn!
• Compose your own riddle using the Riddle of
the Sphinx as a model. What was the rhyme
scheme? How many lines? Follow that model!
Have fun with these! They can be silly 