EP 21: Oedipus and the Sphinx

 ... Welcome to Episode 21, Oedipus & the Sphinx.. 

This episode features the story of Oedipus, an extraordinarily tragic figure in Greek mythology who tries to do his best, but is bested by the Fates. 

He meets the Sphinx—not the Egyptian version but the divine sphinx that terrified the Greeks in the city of Thebes. She killed man after man by posing impossible riddles. All who failed to answer correctly were promptly eaten alive. 

Although Oedipus prevails, he cannot escape his dismal destiny ...

Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner, Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series.  Here these divine beings are viewed as if they were anything but mythical...

If you love these podcasts, you'll also enjoy new stories about the gods in Garner's novel Homo Divinitas, now available as an audio book on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

Transcript

PODCAST #21 ... OEDIPUS & THE SPHINX

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THE SPHINX ... WHEN WE HEAR SPHINX  WE THINK OF EGYPT & THE PYRAMIDS, DESERTS & CAMELS ... AND A MASSIVE STONE HALF-DOG, HALF-MAN CROUCHED IN THE SANDS.

BUT GREECE HAD ITS OWN VERSION, A SPHINX THAT FOR YEARS TERRIFIED THE FAMOUS CITY OF THEBES. IN EGYPT THE SPHINX WAS A MAN-HEADED DOG, BUT NOT IN GREECE.

THE GREEK SPHINX BLOCKED THE GATES TO THE FAMOUS CITY OF THEBES. SHE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN WITH A CAT'S BODY & AN EAGLE'S WINGS. 

IN EGYPT THE SPHINX WAS A 66-FOOT TALL SILENT GUARDIAN OF THE DEAD. IN GREECE? SHE LOOKED OUT FOR NO ONE BUT HERSELF.

SHE WAS CONSIDERED EXTRAORDINARILY WISE. AND HEARTLESS. SHE SPECIALIZED IN MIND GAMES, POSING TRICK QUESTIONS THAT NO ONE COULD ANSWER. SOME SAID THAT SHE GOT HER RIDDLES FROM THE MUSES. 

REGARDLESS, THIS MONSTER KILLED & ATE ALL OF THOSE WHO FAILED TO ANSWER HER BEWILDERING QUESTIONS. NO ONE HAD MADE IT PAST HER YET.

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THIS IS EPISODE 21 OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. WE HAVE LISTENERS FROM A 109 COUNTRIES & COUNTING. WELCOME TO EVERYONE, WHEREVER YOU ARE.

I'M YOUR HOST, MYTHOLOGIST & BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, PATRICK GARNER. 

MY PRODUCER IS STILL ON BREAK SO WE'LL GO WITH MORE DRAMA & LESS SOUNDTRACK.

REGARDLESS, OUR FOCUS REMAINS THE SAME ... WHICH IS TO BRING YOU STORIES ABOUT GREEK GODS.

HERE THE ANCIENT GODS ARE NOT CONSIDERED IMAGINARY. HARDLY. INSTEAD, THEY, LIKE YOU, ARE HERE, NOW ...

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THE SPHINX ... SHE WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN THE DAUGHTER OF ORTHRUS, A DIVINE TWO-HEADED DOG WHO COULD SEE THE PAST & THE FUTURE.

ORTHRUS, BY THE WAY, APPEARS IN MY FIRST TWO NOVELS, THE WINNOWING & CYCLADIC GIRLS.

THE SPHINX'S MOTHER WAS A THREE-HEADED, FIRE-BREATHING CREATURE WITH THE BODY OF A LION. NO WONDER THE SPHINX TURNED OUT LOOKING LIKE SHE DID.

HER BIRTHPLACE WAS ETHIOPIA. IT WAS WIDELY BELIEVED THAT SHE WAS RECRUITED BY HERA, ZEUS' WIFE, TO TORMENT THE CITY OF THEBES.

THE CITIZENS HAD COMMITTED SOME TERRIBLE CRIME THAT HERA FELT OBLIGED TO AVENGE. TODAY, NO ONE IS CERTAIN WHAT IT WAS. 

OF COURSE, AS WE HAVE SEEN IN PREVIOUS EPISODES, HERA WAS EASILY IRRITATED. IN THIS CASE, HER PETTINESS CAUSED MANY TO LOSE THEIR LIVES.

THE MONSTER'S REIGN OF TERROR ENDED WHEN THE KING'S SON RETURNED TO THEBES. AS WE'LL SEE, HIS REAPPEARANCE STARTED A HORRIBLE CHAIN OF EVENTS. 

IN THE END, HE BETTERED THE SPHINX, BUT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF NEVER TO HAVE RETURNED TO HIS PLACE OF BIRTH.

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THEBES ... IT WAS A GREEK CITY FOUNDED BEFORE THE MYCENAEAN ERA & WAS INHABITED CONTINUOUSLY FOR MORE THAN 5,000 YEARS. 

AT ONE TIME IT WAS THE MOST POWERFUL CITY IN ANCIENT GREECE.

IT WAS FOUNDED WHEN KING CADMUS SOWED DRAGON'S TEETH INTO FRESHLY PLOWED EARTH. WARRIORS SPRANG FROM THE DARK FURROWS.

THEY BECAME THE CITY'S FIRST CITIZENS. THE CITY QUICKLY GREW IN SIZE & FAME. IT WAS THE BIRTHPLACE OF HERACLES.

THEN THE SPHINX APPEARED AT THE CITY'S GATES. SHE COULD STILL BE THERE IF A CLEVER YOUNG MAN HAD NOT DECIDED TO MAKE THEBES HIS HOME.

HIS NAME? YOU'VE HEARD IT BEFORE. A 19TH CENTURY VIENNESE PSYCHIATRIST NAMED SIGMUND FREUD MADE IT FAMOUS. I REFER, OF COURSE, TO OEDIPUS, HE OF THE OEDIPUS COMPLEX ...

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WE DEVOTED AN EARLIER EPISODE TO THE PYTHIA, THE ORACLE OF DELPHI. SHE APPEARS OVER & OVER IN THESE STORIES, AS SHE DOES IN THEBES. 

KING LAIUS, HUSBAND TO QUEEN JOCASTA, WAS TOLD BY THE PYTHIA THAT HIS SON WOULD GROW UP TO KILL HIM.

CONSEQUENTLY, AT HIS SON'S BIRTH, THE KING COMMANDED A SERVANT TO ABANDON THE CHILD ON A MOUNTAINSIDE. JOCASTA CONCURRED.

THE CHILD'S ANKLES WERE LASHED TOGETHER & HE WAS LEFT TO DIE. BUT A SHEPHERD FOUND HIM & TOOK HIM INTO HIS HOUSEHOLD.

THERE THE CHILD WAS NAMED OEDIPUS FOR HIS INJURIES. OEDIPUS, OR OEDEMA  IN GREEK, MEANS HE-OF-THE-SWOLLEN-ANKLES.

OEDIPUS WAS EVENTUALLY ADOPTED BY KING POLYBOS OF CORINTH, WHO WAS CHILDLESS.  OEDIPUS WAS TOLD HE WAS THE KING'S SON. BUT IT WAS A LIE.

IN HIS LATE TEENS, OEDIPUS WAS CALLED A BASTARD BY A DRUNK. THE SLUR IMPLIED THAT HE WAS NOT THE KING'S BIOLOGICAL SON. THE KING DENIED IT. 

BUT HIS WORDS LEFT OEDIPUS UNEASY. HE BEGAN TO DOUBT HIS HERITAGE. FOR INSTANCE, WHEN HE COMPARED HIS FEATURES TO THE KING'S, THEY HARDLY LOOKED ALIKE.

AT THIS POINT THE STORY BECOMES EVEN MORE CONVOLUTED. TO TEST HIS FATHER'S WORDS, OEDIPUS VISITED THE PYTHIA. 

APOLLO'S ORACLE WAS THE SAME WOMAN THAT HIS REAL FATHER, KING LAIUS, HAD CONSULTED 20 YEARS BEFORE.

OEDIPUS DEMANDED TO KNOW WHETHER KING POLYBOS WAS HIS FATHER. THE PYTHIA SAID NOTHING, SHAKING HER HEAD & ROLLING HER EYES.

INSTEAD OF ANSWERING HIS QUESTION, SHE GROWLED, SAYING, "YOU ASK OF YOUR FATHER?"

WHEN OEDIPUS NODDED, SHE CONTINUED, "YOU ARE DESTINED TO FULFILL A DREADFUL FATE, FOR WITHIN THE MONTH YOU WILL KILL YOUR FATHER & MARRY YOUR MOTHER."

HORRIFIED, OEDIPUS LEFT ... AND TO AVOID HER UNIMAGINABLE PROPHECY, HE VOWED NEVER TO RETURN TO CORINTH. HE DECIDED TO MOVE TO THEBES, A CITY CLOSE TO DELPHI. 

THERE, OEDIPUS BELIEVED HE WOULD BE SAFE FROM THE CURSE. OF COURSE, THE STORY BECAME EVEN MORE ENTANGLED AS IT QUICKLY PLAYED OUT.

REMEMBER THAT THEBES WAS HIS ACTUAL BIRTHPLACE, NOT CORINTH. AND REMEMBER ALSO THAT HIS REAL FATHER & MOTHER REIGNED THERE AS THE KING & QUEEN.

LITTLE DID HE KNOW THAT HE WAS ENTERING A TRAP SET BY THE FATES.

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NOW WE RETURN TO THE HEARTLESS SPHINX ... FOR WELL OVER A YEAR, THE MONSTER HAD PLANTED HERSELF OUTSIDE THE GATES OF THEBES. 

THERE SHE DEMANDED HER TWO RIDDLES BE ANSWERED BEFORE ANYONE COULD PASS. AN INCORRECT ANSWER MEANT INSTANT DEATH.

BY THIS POINT MANY HAD DIED ATTEMPTING TO OUTWIT THE SPHINX. IN DESPERATION, THE KING OFFERED A REWARD TO ANYONE WHO COULD DO SO.

HIS REWARD — WHICH SHOWED THE MEASURE OF HIS DISTRESS — WAS THAT HE WOULD GIVE THE HERO HIS KINGDOM, WHICH INCLUDED JOCASTA.

ALTHOUGH OEDIPUS DID NOT COME TO THEBES FOR THE REWARD, HE, LIKE SO MANY BEFORE HIM, HAD TO FACE OFF WITH THE SPHINX BEFORE HE COULD ENTER THE GATES.

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AS OEDIPUS APPROACHED THE CITY, HE SAW A CHARIOT COMING TOWARD HIM AT HIGH SPEED. THE DRIVER SHOUTED FOR OEDIPUS TO STEP ASIDE.

AS A YOUNG MAN FULL OF PRIDE, OEDIPUS REFUSED ... UNKNOWN TO HIM, THE CHARIOT WAS BEING DRIVEN BY KING LAIUS, HIS REAL FATHER. 

FURIOUS AT THE STRANGER'S REFUSAL TO STEP ASIDE, THE KING STRUCK OEDIPUS WITH HIS WHIP THEN RAN OVER HIS FOOT WITH THE CHARIOT'S WHEEL.

INCENSED BY THE DRIVER'S ACTIONS, OEDIPUS THREW A SPEAR, KILLING THE DRIVER ... NOT KNOWING WHO HE'D HIT, OEDIPUS PROCEEDED TOWARD THEBES.

THEN WITHIN A SHORT DISTANCE, HE WAS CONFRONTED BY THE SPHINX. HIS HANDS STILL BLOODY, HE WAS CHALLENGED A SECOND TIME.

BUT NOW HIS OPPONENT USED WORDS INSTEAD OF WEAPONS. UNABLE TO ESCAPE HER EYES, OEDIPUS STOOD AS THE SPHINX POSED HER FIRST QUESTION.

IT WAS ONE NO MAN HAD SUCCESSFULLY ANSWERED. AND ANYONE WHO RESPONDED CORRECTLY TO THE FIRST WOULD THEN FACE A SECOND RIDDLE THAT WAS EVEN MORE PERPLEXING.  

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THE WILY SPHINX HAD AN ALMOST SWEET VOICE. SHE HAD USED IT ON MAN AFTER MAN, CHARMING THEM FIRST BEFORE TEARING THEM INTO PIECES.

UPON HEARING HER CLOYING VOICE, OEDIPUS WANTED TO BELIEVE HER SINCERITY. BUT HE HAD HEARD ABOUT HER CRUELTY.

SHE HALF-SMILED & SAID SLYLY, "HANDSOME MAN, FROM WHERE HAVE YOU COME?" OEDIPUS RESPONDED, "FROM APOLLO'S ORACLE IN DELPHI."

THE SPHINX SAID, "THEN YOU MUST KNOW ALL THERE IS TO KNOW." IN RETURN HE SAID, "I AM BUT AN IGNORANT MAN."

SHE SHOOK HER HEAD, SAYING, "I HOPE NOT, FOR AS YOU MAY KNOW, I EAT THE IGNORANT & SHOW NO PITY TO THOSE WHO TWIST WORDS TO TRICK ME."

OEDIPUS REPLIED "LET'S GET ON WITH WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO SAY."

SHE LAUGHED, SAYING, "AH, YOU RUSH TO YOUR DEATH. BUT IF YOU INSIST, I'LL BEGIN..." SHE STRETCHED LANGUIDLY, ALMOST YAWNING IN APPARENT BOREDOM.

IT WAS AS IF SHE COULD ALREADY TASTE OEDIPUS' FLESH. SHE SMILED ... THEN IN A RUSH OF WORDS SHE SAID, "ANSWER THIS IF YOU CAN ...

"WHAT GOES ON FOUR LEGS IN THE MORNING, TWO LEGS AT NOON & THREE BY LATE DAY?"

WITHOUT HESITATION, OEDIPUS SAID, "WHY, A MAN. HE CRAWLS ON ALL FOURS AS A CHILD, WALKS TWO-LEGGED IN HIS PRIME & USES A WALKING STICK WHEN OLD."

THE SPHINX WATCHED HIM WITHOUT EXPRESSION. SHE WAS SILENT FOR A MOMENT. THEN SHE SCREAMED, TEARING HER CLAWS THROUGH THE AIR.

CATCHING HER BREATH, HER EYES FLASHING, SHE SAID, "SOME GREAT DIVINITY HAS WHISPERED IN YOUR EAR. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY YOU COULD HAVE KNOWN.

"BUT NO GOD HAS EVER HEARD ME ASK THIS SECOND RIDDLE ... I WILL EAT YOU YET." SHE TRIED TO STARE HIM DOWN BUT HE NARROWED HIS EYES & SAID, "ON WITH IT, SPHINX."

SHE SAID, "YES ,,, THERE ARE TWO SISTERS. ONE GIVES BIRTH TO THE OTHER, WHO IN TURN GIVES BIRTH TO THE FIRST. PRAY TELL, WHO ARE THESE GIRLS?"

HE LAUGHED SOFTLY, SAYING, "THE SISTERS WE CALL DAY & NIGHT. DAWN GIVES BIRTH TO DUSK, WHO IN TURN GIVES BIRTH TO DAWN, A DANCE THEY DO  AGAIN & AGAIN  ... 

"NOW, LET ME PASS."

THE SPHINX SHRIEKED & FELL ON HER BACK, THRASHING & TWISTING IN HER FURY, CLAWING AT HER SIDES.

ALTHOUGH OEDIPUS IGNORED HER & CONTINUED ON HIS WAY, THE SPHINX WAS THROUGH. THE STORIES VARY ABOUT HER DEMISE, ALTHOUGH IT HAPPENED WITHIN THE HOUR.

ONE ANCIENT WRITER SAID SHE THREW HERSELF OFF THE CITY'S ACROPOLIS. ANOTHER STATED THAT SHE THREW HERSELF OFF A NAMELESS PRECIPICE.

WHATEVER THE LOCATION, ALL AGREED THAT SHE WAS SO VANQUISHED BY OEDIPUS' CASUAL RESPONSES THAT SHE PROMPTLY COMMITTED SUICIDE, ENDING FOREVER THE SCOURGE OF THEBES.

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OEDIPUS' STORY, THOUGH, WAS FAR FROM OVER. HE ENTERED THE CITY AS A HERO & WAS CELEBRATED FOR DAYS WITH ENDLESS PARTIES & PARADES.

IT WAS A HAPPY & SAD TIME FOR THEBES. THE KING'S BODY HAD BEEN DISCOVERED.

AND SO THE CITY SIMULTANEOUSLY MOURNED THE LOSS OF ITS KING, & HONORED THE MAN WHO HAD SAVED THEM FROM THE MONSTER.

ALL KNEW THAT THE KING'S SON HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO PERISH ON A MOUNTAINSIDE. THERE WAS NO OBVIOUS SUCCESSOR.

BY UNIVERSAL ACCLAMATION, OEDIPUS WAS PUT FORWARD TO BE THE NEW KING. HE WAS YOUNG, BRAVE & OBVIOUSLY SMART. NO ONE OBJECTED.

AND THE KING'S ADVISORS REMINDED THE CITY THAT THE KING HAD PROMISED JOCASTA TO ANY MAN WHO SAVED THEBES FROM THE SPHINX.

IN A MATTER OF DAYS, OEDIPUS WAS MADE KING & MARRIED THE LOVELY JOCASTA. ONE GRAND CELEBRATION FOLLOWED ANOTHER.

LITTLE DID HE KNOW HE HAD FULFILLED THE PYTHIA'S HORRENDOUS PROPHESY ... WITH THE CONFIDENCE OF A YOUNG MAN, HE BELIEVED HE HAD OUTWITTED THE ORACLE.

HOWEVER, YOU MAY REMEMBER FROM A RECENT EPISODE THAT THE DELPHIC ORACLE NEVER ERRED. NO ONE ESCAPED HER PREDICTIONS.

OEDIPUS WOULD NOT BE THE EXCEPTION.

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THE NEW KING REINED IN THEBES FOR YEARS. AS HUSBAND & WIFE, HE & JOCASTA HAD FOUR CHILDREN.

UNFORTUNATELY, OEDIPUS' CITY DID NOT THRIVE AS IT WAS SLOWLY RAVAGED BY A PLAGUE OF INFERTILITY.

THE PLAGUE AFFECTED MEN & WOMAN, GOATS & SHEEP, BULLS & FLOCKS. OEDIPUS SENT JOCASTA'S BROTHER TO THE ORACLE FOR ADVICE.

ONCE AGAIN, THE PYTHIA WAS SUCCINCT. SHE SAID THAT THE PLAGUE WOULD DESTROY THE CITY UNLESS KING LAIUS'S KILLER WAS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE.

OEDIPUS VOWED TO FIND THE KILLER. BUT A LOCAL PROPHET WARNED HIM NOT TO SEEK THE TRUTH.

TIME PASSED. NO KILLER WAS FOUND. IN HIS FRUSTRATION, OEDIPUS PROVOKED THE LOCAL PROPHET INTO BLURTING OUT THE KILLER'S NAME: OEDIPUS.

AS IF HE HAD BEEN STRUCK BY ONE OF ZEUS' THUNDERBOLTS, OEDIPUS SUDDENLY UNDERSTOOD. THE MAN HE HAD KILLED A DECADE EARLIER WAS HIS FATHER. 

AND HIS WIFE, WITH WHOM HE'D HAD FOUR CHILDREN, WAS IN FACT HIS MOTHER.

HE HAD NOT ELUDED FATE. AND THE PYTHIA, ONCE AGAIN, HAD UNERRINGLY SPOKEN WORDS OF TRUTH.

JOCASTA, UPON HEARING THAT SHE HAD MARRIED HER SON, PROMPTLY HANGED HERSELF ... AND WHAT BECAME OF OEDIPUS?

IN HIS SHOCK & GRIEF, HE SEIZED TWO PINS FROM JOCASTA'S DRESS & USED THEM TO BLIND HIMSELF.

HE EXILED HIMSELF FROM HIS KINGDOM, WANDERING THE GREEK COUNTRYSIDE FOR YEARS, TORMENTED BY THE FURIES WHO DOGGED HIM AT EVERY STEP.

ON THAT NOTE I END ONE OF OUR SADDER EPISODES. TRAGICALLY, OEDIPUS' TALE GIVES NEW MEANING TO THE OLD SAYING, "LIFE ISN'T FAIR ..."

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IN OUR NEXT EPISODE WE MEET SILENUS, A DIVINE HALF-GOAT, HALF-MAN. HE WAS A FRIEND OF DIONYSUS & LED A GANG OF WOODLAND GODS CALLED SATYRS ... IN THIS COMING EPISODE, SILENUS ENCOUNTERS ODYSSEUS & THE FEARSOME CYCLOPES, A ONE-EYED GIANT WHO, LIKE THE SPHINX, ATE MEN FOR LUNCH ...