Why do you think the Sphinx killed herself when Oedipus answered her riddle?

Question

"What has four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three at night"

Oedipus replied, "Man" the Sphinx destroys herself, why?

Answer 1

She had no other purpose for her existence. She was only there to give the riddle and if it is already solved she has nothing else to live for. Besides they are wise and a wise creature knows when they are no longer required on earth.

Answer 2

If you take poet Muriel Rukeyser's interpretation, she didn't:)

MYTH

Long afterward, Oedipus, old and blinded, walked the

roads. He smelled a familiar smell. It was

the Sphinx. Oedipus said, "I want to ask one question.

Why didn't I recognize my mother?" "You gave the

wrong answer," said the Sphinx. "But that was what

made everything possible," said Oedipus. "No," she said.

"When I asked, What walks on four legs in the morning,

two at noon, and three in the evening, you answered,

Man. You didn't say anything about woman."

"When you say Man," said Oedipus, "you include women

too. Everyone knows that." She said, "That's what

you think"

----

(This is one of my favorite poems. )

But why, really, do some of the versions say that the Sphinx killed herself or died when Oedipus solved the riddle? I think it's because the drama of the story is much greater that way. It gives Oedipus farther to fall, sets him up even higher upon entering the city. He is now a great hero. The triumph of having saved the city from the plague! Unfortunately, in European culture and many others, people win fame by solving problems and killing things, usually in one fell swoop-- solving problems BY killing things.
The story is about how Fate brings one man to the peak of success and brings him to the lowest low. As Sophocles' last line says, "Count no man happy until he is dead" (not exact, I'm relying on memory here) In other words, human pride and what humans count as success is nothing compared to the plans the gods have for us and their power over us. What humans count as success is often illusory and misleading.

For some reason the Greeks didn't think it would be as effective if the Sphinx just walked away nicely and went somewhere else. (Though I think so, personally.)

Also, she is a monster. One of the chaotic things of the earth. Heroes, in Greek myth, kill monsters. That's what they do. They bring "rational male power" to control the frightening (female) power of chaos. This sets up Oedipus as a 'hero' along with the best of them in the manner of Heracles and Odysseus.

Answer 3

Hera created the Sphinx to punish the family of Cadamus. The Sphinx was created to die when the riddle was solved, but to destroy all who failed to answer the riddle correctly until it was answered correctly.

Answer 4

'Cause that's what Sphinxes do. And it provides a bit more closure than if the playwright had said, "And then Oedipus continued on leaving the Sphinx behind."

Answer 5

It was her only riddle. With it broken, her purpose was served. The riddle was meant to be unsolvable,

Answer 6

Because if she hadn't, he would have had to fight his way around her. (And he had forgotten his sword +4 and 20 sided die).