Editing Oedipus Rex (section)

===Fulfilling prophecy===
====The old man====
On the road to Thebes, Oedipus encounters an old man and his servants. The two begin to quarrel over whose chariot has the right of way. While the old man moves to strike the insolent youth with his scepter, Oedipus throws the man down from his chariot, killing him. Thus, the prophecy in which Oedipus slays his own father is fulfilled, as the old man—as Oedipus discovers later—was Laius, king of Thebes and true father to Oedipus.

====Riddle of the Sphinx====
{{Main|Sphinx#Riddle_of_the_Sphinx|l1 = Riddle of the Sphinx}}
[[File:Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres - Oedipus and the Sphinx - Walters 379.jpg|thumb|Painting by [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres]] depicting Oedipus after he solves the riddle of the Sphinx<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[The Walters Art Museum]]|url=http://art.thewalters.org/detail/7916|title=Oedipus and the Sphinx|access-date=2012-09-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524131651/http://art.thewalters.org/detail/7916|archive-date=2013-05-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Walters Art Museum.|alt=|287x287px]]
Arriving at Thebes, a city in turmoil, Oedipus encounters the [[Sphinx]], a legendary beast with the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a lioness, and the wings of an eagle. The Sphinx, perched on a hill, was devouring Thebans and travelers one by one if they could not solve [[riddle of the Sphinx|her riddle]].

The precise riddle asked by the Sphinx varied in early traditions, and is not explicitly stated in ''Oedipus Rex'', as the event precedes the play. However, according to the most widely related version of the riddle, the Sphinx asks, "What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?"  Oedipus, blessed with great intelligence, answers correctly: "man" (Greek: [[wikt:ἄνθρωπος|''anthrôpos'']]), who crawls on all fours as an infant; walks upright in maturity; and leans on a stick in old age.<ref name="Powell 2015">{{Cite book|last=Powell|first=Barry B.|title=Classical Myth|publisher=Pearson|others=with translations by Herbert M. Howe|year=2015|isbn=978-0-321-96704-6|edition=8th|location=Boston}}</ref>{{rp|463}}

Bested by the prince, the Sphinx throws herself from a cliff, thereby ending the curse.<ref>Ahl, Frederick. ''Two Faces of Oedipus: Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus and Seneca's Oedipus''. Cornell University Press, 2008. page 1. {{ISBN|9780801473975}}.</ref> Oedipus's reward for freeing Thebes from the Sphinx is kingship to the city and the hand of its [[Queen dowager|dowager queen]], Jocasta. None, at that point, realize that Jocasta is Oedipus's true mother.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/sophocles/oedipustheking.htm |title=Johnston, Ian. "Background Notes", Vancouver Island University |access-date=2016-03-31 |archive-date=2020-11-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106015341/http://johnstoi.web.viu.ca//sophocles/oedipustheking.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Thus, unbeknownst to either character, the remaining prophecy has been fulfilled.