Riddle of the Sphinx: Difference between revisions

''"What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, three legs in the evening, and no legs at night?"''

 

 

The answer? As a baby, a human goes about on all fours ("four legs in the morning"; morning = childhood), until he learns to walk, which he does so well into adulthood ("two legs in the afternoon"; afternoon = adulthood), until old age requires him to use a cane to support himself ("three legs in the evening", evening = old age), finally he dies ("no legs at night", night = death). So the answer is "a man".

* Parodied by John Sladek, in a story parodying ''[[Cordwainer Smith]]''. "The answer is a coffee table. I fixed four legs to it in the morning but two legs fell off in the afternoon, and by the evening I'd only gotten around to replacing one of them."

* In [[Gene Wolfe]]'s ''[[Soldier of the Mist]]'', Latro meets up with the same sphinx. He answers that it is a man going a journey: in the morning, he rides a horse, but when the horse is stolen, he walks, and then in the evening, he cuts himself a walking stick. This answer was also approved by the sphinx.

* In the book ''Pyramid Scheme'' the Sphinx can only eat someone who fails to answer her riddle. The heroes, of course, know the answer (although there's a certain amount of tension because while the guy being asked knows the answer, he doesn't know Ancient Greek....) After hearing the Sphinx complain about how hungry she is they offer to teach her a new riddle in exchange for her help. After they escape the myth world, the Sphinx gets a job as a greeter / tourist attraction at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas. She asks guests riddles in exchange for all the food she can eat.

* In ''[[The Stress of Her Regard]]'', it's revealed that Oedipus only answered correctly '''by accident''': its intended answer is "sentient life on Earth", and the "legs" are the atomic bonds in the skeletal structures of Earth's primordial silicon-boned, present calcium-boned, and future aluminum-boned inhabitants. (The former are the novel's [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampires]], and the latter are presumably robots.) It's implied that Oedipus actually said "people", and the sphinx didn't grade his answer too harshly.

* In the [[Book of Amber|Amber book]] ''Trumps of Doom'' Merlin briefly encounters a sphinx that asks him a riddle. He gives an answer which, while not the one the sphinx wanted, did meet the conditions of the riddle. Eventually after giving the sphinx a ridiculous one<ref>about a frog in a cuisinart</ref> he just [[Take a Third Option|threatens the sphinx until it agrees to let him go]].

* The riddle is the reason that the members of the Club in [[Esther Friesner]]'s "The Wedding of Wylda Serene" accepted the sphinx that one of their members brought, figuring that everyone knew the answer, so no one would get eaten. Then she learned some new ones...

* Gollum tells a version of this riddle in ''[[The Hobbit]]''. Bilbo answers correctly.

 

 

* This is the [[Flavor Text]] of [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159309 Petra Sphinx] in ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''.

 

== Video Games ==

** The Riddler also poses this riddle to Booster Gold in the cold open of an episode of ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' and gives Batman an electric shock when Booster can't answer it.

** In an issue of ''[[The Batman Adventures]]'' the Riddler robs two men (i.e., four legs) in the morning, one man in the afternoon, and a man with a cane in the evening. Batman realizes that this means the Riddler is hiding out in a building with a giant sphynx statue on the roof. {{spoiler|When Batman explains how he tracked him down, a shocked Riddler reveals that he had been making a conscious effort to commit a crime ''without'' leaving clues, and that the pattern of his crimes was entirely subconscious. The shaken villain surrenders and asks to be taken to Arkham, realizing for the first time that he might really need help.}}

* Shows up in the [[Unexpected Gameplay Change|Unexpected Text Adventure]] section of ''[[Nie R]]''.

* Played with in [[Monster Girl Quest]]. As part of a trial to be [[Engagement Challenge|eligible to marry]] a [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragon]], a Sphinx gives this question, and it is lampshaded by Luka how almost everyone knows the answer to this question and that it's anticlimactic. {{spoiler|The riddle's true purpose is to illustrate that any monster and human romance will be a [[Mayfly-December Romance]] and to make the trial taker aware of this fact and its implications.}}

 

* Used particularly badly in one episode of ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]]'', where a ghost modeled on the Sphinx asks this of its victims and renders those who answer incorrectly into helpless, mindless beings. This includes ''an entire chapter of [[Mensa]]'', the one group of people who you would expect to know the answer.

* Also parodied in ''[[Sabrina the Animated Series]]'': The sphinx gives the riddle, and Sabrina answers, "Man." {{spoiler|However, the answer is the nine-legged... some creature that exists only in that world}}.

* Used in the ''[[My Little Pony]]'' cartoon, in the episode "The Golden Horseshoes."