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That he defeats the Sphinx is the reason why Oedipus can enter Thebes in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the monstrous Sphinx demands upon pain of death the same challenging riddle to all who enter and leave Thebes. No one knows the answer as to what life form crawls on fours in the morning of life, on twos in the afternoon and on threes in the evening. Oedipus offers the correct answer, the Sphinx throws herself over a nearby cliff, and Oedipus enters the city and collects the reward of marriage with Jocasta, Thebes' widowed queen.

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14y ago

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