Canadian Hairless

In what work of literature did the riddle of the sphynx first appear?

Do you know of any other works that incorporate the riddle?

Public Comments

1. Oedipus Rex
2. You mean it wasn't "The Never Ending Story"?
3. it was Oedipus Rex, where the sphinx asks him a riddle and he answers correctly...by the way the answer is Man...the question was something like what walks with four feet, and then two and then finally walks on three? It also appears in harry potter and the goblet of fire, but i guess you weren't looking for that!!
4. It's also in Terry Pratchett's 'Pyramids'. In a weird and wonderful way.
5. Odipus Rex. The correct (or most closely translated) version of the riddle is "What walks on 4 legs in tghe morning, 2 legs in the afternoon and 3 legs at night?" The answer is a man, since the times of day are referring to the lifespan of a human. Birth (morning=early), adulthood (afternoon=middle) and old age (night=end). Babies crawl, adults use 2 legs and old people use a cane.