Sophocles "Oedipus the King" is a tragic play which discusses the
tragic discovery of Oedipus that he has killed his father and married
his mother. The story of Oedipus was well known to the athenian's.
Oedipus is the embodiement of the perfect Athenian. He is
self-confident, intelligent, and strong willed. Ironically these are the
very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. Oedipus gained
the rule of Thebes by answering the riddle of Sphinx. Sophocles
used the riddle of the sphinx as a metaphor for the 3 phases of
Oedipus' life and to further
characterized him as a tragic man.
The Sphinx posed the following riddle to all who came to obtain the
rule of thebes: "What is it that walks on 4 feet and 2 feet and 3 feet
and has only one voice, when it walks on most feet it is the
weakest?" Oedipus correctly answered "Man" and became the king
of Thebes. This riddle is a metaphor for the life of Oedipus. As a
child man crawls on his hands and knees this is the four......
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