Long ago in ancient Greece, a wicked creature, called a sphinx, put a curse over the city of Thebes. This dreaded creature had the head of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. Its presence loomed as a shadow over the city. Every person lived in constant fear of the great monster. Every day the sphinx swooped down from the sky and picked off a helpless victim like a sniper for his dinner. Then, one morning, he defied the Greeks to solve his riddle. If they could, the city would be relieved of the curse and he would leave them alone. If they could not solve the puzzle, they would become his supper. Desperately, all the wisest and bravest scholars of the village tried to free their people. The sphinx must have grown in size then, because most of the scholars sadly ended up on his dinner plate. Soon none were left that were brave enough to solve the monsters clever riddle. The city quaked with fear.
One day, a small speck appeared in the distance growing bigger and bigger as it neared. As it approached, the people that were left in the city could see that it was a sturdy, fairly good-looking, middle aged man walking up to the city gate. He turned out to be a wise man, who had traveled from a far off land. As soon as he learned of the city’s troubles, Oedipus (for that was his name) set out to find the evil sphinx. Soon he stood on a hill scanning the gully below where the monster lived. Suddenly, a frightening dark shadow blocked the sun from Oedipus’s sight.
“Do you dare to trespass on the Great Sphinx’s territory?” snarled a voice behind him. Oedipus whipped around to see two glaring eyes blazing like fire right in front of his face.
The sinister monster looked at the wise man with satisfaction. “You will make a most scrumptious meal.” It snickered wickedly. “But first, of course, you want to have a try at my most clever riddle. Foolish people,” he mumbled under his breath and rolled his eyes. “This is my riddle. At dawn, it crawls on four legs. At noon, it walks on two. At sunset, it totters three. What is this thing? What is so different but the same?”
Oedipus thought hard. The sphinx was certainly clever. However, he was cleverer. “I will only have one chance to figure out this baffling puzzle,” Oedipus thought. Then, to the sphinx, he announced confidently, “I’ve got it.”
“You do, do you?” the beast mocked. “Remember you only have one chance before you’re my dinner, so you better be sure.” He smiled evilly and licked his lips.
Evenly, Oedipus smiled back at him just as evilly and then replied bravely, “It is a human.” The sphinx looked shocked. Oedipus smiled with pleasure this time and went on. “In the beginning a baby crawls on all fours. Then, it learns to walk on two. When he becomes old, he walks using a cane.” With a terrible, ear-piercing scream of defeat and the sound of flapping wings, the sphinx was gone. All throughout Thebes, the people hailed Oedipus as a hero. Later, the people crowned him king for the daring deed which he had been so courageous and wise to accomplish.
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