What is the answer to the sphinx's riddle in greek mythology?

Answer 1

The Greek Sphinx was a monster with the body of a lioness, the head of a woman,

the wings of an eagle and a snake-headed tail. She had been sent to the city-state of Thebes by Hera as punishment for a crime committed by the Theban king, Laius,

who had abducted and raped Chrysippus, son of king Pelops.

The Sphinx put a riddle to all those traveling to the city:

"Which creature in the morning goes on for legs, at midday on two, and in the evening

upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?"

Those who did not know the answer (and no-one did) were strangled and eaten.

The Sphinx was finally killed when Oedipus, king Laius' unwanted son,

was able to solve her riddle:

"Man - who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult,

and then walks with a cane in old age".

Answer 2

The Sphinx's traditional riddle was "What walks on four legs in the morning?" The answer to this riddle was Man; he walks on four legs in the morning, like a baby, in two legs in the evening, like an adult, and he walks on three legs in the evening, as an old man with a cane.

That is correct. He he.