Untying the Knot (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Galit Hasan-Rokem, David Shulman
- First Published: 1996
- Type of Work: Essays
- Genres: Nonfiction, Essays
- Subjects: History, Folklore, Speech, Rites or ceremonies, Anthropology or anthropologists, Mathematics or mathematicians, Semiotics, Riddles
Most readers will recall what is perhaps the most famous riddle in literature, that asked of Oedipus by the Sphinx. As given by Apollodorus in The Library, it asks: “What is that which has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?” Sophocles’ Oedipus answers correctly (even though neither the Sphinx nor the riddle actually appears in Oedipus Rex)—“Man.” As a result of his answer, he inherits the kingdom of Thebes, the dead king’s wife, and finally his own painful and destructive enlightenment. These eighteen essays—intended...
[The entire page is 2211 words long]
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