Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
214,282
edits
m (Mass update links) |
No edit summary |
||
(9 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown) | |||
Line 2:
[[File:oedipus.jpg|frame|[[Riddle Me This|Riddle me this!]]]]
{{quote|''"What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, three legs in the evening, and no legs at night?"''}}
The classic riddle presented to [[Oedipus Rex]] by [[Riddling Sphinx|the Sphinx]] in [[Greek Mythology]]. He was the first one to solve
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".
Line 11:
Also see [[Riddle Me This]], [[These Questions Three]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Parodied in ''[[Final Fantasy Unlimited]]'' episode 16, where the "correct" answer is the Hemoran bacterium. The person who answered "a human" got it wrong.
** Parodied ''again'' in the same sequence when someone tries a ridiculously complicated answer to a riddle...and the "correct" answer is the simple, obvious one. As it turns out, {{spoiler|the entire quiz is a sham}}.
Line 21 ⟶ 20:
== Film ==
* Played with in ''[[Mirror Mask]]''. Helena, when asked this riddle, answers with the name of the performing dog from the circus in which she grew up. The sphinx tells her that the answer is man, and she responds...
{{quote|
== Literature ==
* Subverted in [[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]] during The Battle of the Labyrinth, Percy and the gang meet the Sphinx who, like everything else in Greek mythology in this series, gets modernized. She now uses an SAT style automatic grader and asks random trivia questions. Annabeth, who was taking the quiz expecting to hear the original questions, takes this as an insult to her intelligence and refuses to take the quiz. [[What an Idiot!|Guess who has to fight a Sphinx.]]
* Spoofed in the [[Discworld]] novel ''[[
* 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 John Barnes's ''[[One for
* 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...
** In her novel ''Sphynxes Wild'', the
* Gollum tells a version of this riddle in ''[[The Hobbit]]''. Bilbo answers correctly.
== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger]]'' has this as one of the questions asked by Dora Sphinx- his victim, who'd answered every riddle correctly until then, didn't get this one.
Line 46 ⟶ 42:
* Mentioned in [[PDQ Bach]]'s ''Oedipus Tex'' (of course), where a "Bigfoot" plays the Sphinx's role and Oedipus plays that of his brother Rex.
▲== Newspaper & Magazine Comics ==
* Spoofed, along with many other stock riddles, in ''[[Sovisa]]'' when Alexi is confronted by a riddle-telling old man (a further spoof, in that the man states it's one of the few jobs a man of his age can hold down), Alexi antagonizes him by answering his riddles ''before he's finished telling them''. A section of the text is as follows:
{{quote|
'''Alexi:''' Man.
'''Man:''' What? What do you mean "man"?
'''Alexi:''' It's the answer, I've heard that riddle around a hojillion times.
'''Man:''' Well then get ready for round two! "As I was going to St. Ives, I-"
'''Alexi:''' One. One was going to St. Ives.
'''Man:''' OK, wise-ass, no more Mr. Nice Granddad. "I'm the beginning of Eterni-"
'''Alexi:''' The letter "E". You know, you could ''try'' to put some effort into this.
'''Man:''' Do I come to you at work and tell you how to do your job? No. -Startin' to piss me off, boy. Right, "I occur once in a minute, tw-"
'''Alexi:''' The letter "''M''", I see we're stuck on ''letters'' now.
'''Man:''' All right. I see I'll have to pull out all the stops. "You come to two doors, guarded by a pair of men, one tells only the truth, wh-"
'''Alexi:''' [[Knights and Knaves|The truth or lies guys riddle]]? Seriously? You know, I don't think you eve- Ow! You kicked me! }}
* Subverted in ''[[Phil Foglio|What's New? with Phil and Dixie]]'', in which a sphinx insists that everybody knows the "four legs, two legs, three legs" riddle, so instead asks: "[[Tongue-Twister|How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood]]?"
== Recorded and Stand Up Comedy ==
* The comedian Richard Herring says the answer shouldn't be a man because a stick isn't really a leg. The real answer should be Paul McCartney and his wives.
* An [[Emo Philips]] routine postulates that the answer is a donkey, "who has four legs in the morning, then in the afternoon you chop two of them off, then in the evening you glue one back on again."
== Tabletop Games ==
* This is the [[Flavor Text]] of [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159309 Petra Sphinx] in ''[[Magic:
* ''[[Dungeons
▲* This is the [[Flavor Text]] of [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159309 Petra Sphinx] in ''[[Magic the Gathering]]''.
▲* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' Module I3 ''Pharaoh''. Inside the tomb of Amun-re the [[PC|PCs]] can encounter an androshpinx who offers to play a [[Riddle Me This]] game with them. If they can answer one of his riddles he will answer a question from them about the tomb. One of the riddles he can ask is this standard riddle.
== Video Games ==
* Used in ''[[Devil May Cry]] 3'', where you were supposed to walk through the doorway with the right number of glowing eyes. Picking the wrong doorway led to a fight against several monsters and a [[Puzzle Reset]].
* The third-level boss of ''[[Wario
* At the end of the Tombs of Amenti in ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'', you are asked this riddle. The choices are "Humans", "Man", and "Homo Sapiens", so it's impossible to get it wrong.
* Referenced in gruesome fashion by the Riddler in ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]'': he claims the answer is "a baby", because it walks around on four limbs, ''but it walks on only two if you cut off its legs and three if you give it a crutch.'' When asked how he could make such a sick joke, the Riddler calmly responds [[Complete Monster|"It's not]] ''[[Complete Monster|my]]'' [[Complete Monster|baby."]]
** The Riddler also poses this riddle to Booster Gold in the cold open of an episode of ''[[Batman:
** 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.}}
* Averted in the ''
* Shows up in the [[Unexpected Gameplay Change|Unexpected Text Adventure]] section of ''[[
* 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.}} Note that if Luka answers, "Me!" the Sphinx accepts that as correct, as Luka is human.
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Nerf Now]]'': If this question ever comes up in ''[[Jeopardy
* Parodied on [http://gastrophobia.com/index.php?date=2009-03-06 these] [http://gastrophobia.com/index.php?date=2009-03-09 two] pages of ''[[
▲* ''[[Nerf Now]]'': If this question ever comes up in ''[[Jeopardy (TV)|Jeopardy]]'', [[Castlevania Symphony of the Night|Dracula's]] [http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/67 got it covered.]
▲* Parodied on [http://gastrophobia.com/index.php?date=2009-03-06 these] [http://gastrophobia.com/index.php?date=2009-03-09 two] pages of ''[[Gastrophobia (Webcomic)|Gastrophobia]]'', where ''everyone'' knows the Sphinx's riddle. But they don't have to be so ''rude'' about it. It's to the point where she's now trying to think up a new riddle.
** She's briefly excited when someone incorrectly answers "Goblin"...but then she realizes the speaker is a goblin, and is forced to admit that it counts.
* [http://www.viruscomix.com/page332.html Same riddle], same characters, different outcome.
Line 96 ⟶ 86:
== Western Animation ==
* Used particularly badly in one episode of ''[[
* Similarly, the opening of an episode of ''[[The Mummy
▲* Used particularly badly in one episode of ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters (Animation)|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 [[Useful Notes/Mensa|Mensa]]'', the one group of people who you would expect to know the answer.
▲* Similarly, the opening of an episode of ''[[The Mummy (Animation)|The Mummy]]: The Animated Series'' had the O'Connells, a family of [[Adventurer Archaeologist|Adventurer Archaeologists]]/Egyptologists, oblivious of the answer to the riddle. You'd think at least Evie would know...
* 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."
Line 104 ⟶ 93:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Stock Puzzle]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
|