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 Myth—Muriel Rukeyser Carrie Skrzat and Tina Zheng When Laius, king of Thebes, married Jocasta, an oracle from Delphi came to warn him not to have a son, for the son was destined to kill his own father and marry his own mother. Laius disregarded the warning, and his wife conceived a son. Laius pierced his son’s ankles and gave him to a herdsman to kill. A horseman of King Polybus, of Corinth, found the child brought him back to the city where the king and his wife healed the child’s ankles and adopted him, naming him Oedipus. When Oedipus had grown to an adult, he traveled to Delphi to ask the oracle about who his true parents were, for he doubted he was truly King Polybus’ son. The oracle warned Oedipus not to go back to his native land because he would “murder his father and lie with his mother.” Believing his adoptive parents were his own, he did not return to Corinth.On the road, Oedipus crossed paths with Laius, his true father. At this point, some say that because Oedipus delayed to move out of the way, the king’s herald killed one of his horses, and others say that the king urged his own horses on and the carriage grazed Oedipus’ foot. Either way, Oedipus killed both the herald and the Laius in his rage. The sphinx laid the Theban fields to waste until someone could answer the riddle, but it destroyed anyone who failed. The riddle was “What is that which has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?” Jocasta’s brother proclaimed that he would give the Kingdom of Thebes and Jocasta’s hand in marriage to whoever solved the riddle. Oedipus solves the riddle; “it referred to man because as a child he is four-footed, going on his arms and legs, as an adult he is two-footed, and as an old man he gets a third limb in a staff.” (Oedipus knew this all too well, for he already walked with a staff due to his damaged ankles) The Sphinx destroys herself and Oedipus receives the kingdom and unknowingly marries his mother and has children with her. Some think that Heaven dislikes this kind of family configuration, and because of it, barrenness of crops and hunger fell on Thebes. Then King Polybus dies and his wife decides to reveal to Oedipus the truth about his adoption. Oedipus blinds himself and gives the kingdom to his sons, but he also curses them and is sent into exile. Jocasta commits suicide, some say with a noose, others a sword. Oedipus took refuge at Colonus in Attica, and later dies, some say he committed suicide.    Sound: The choppy sound of the short sentences makes the poem sound like a generic myth.  Sense: The meaning is straight-forward; there is no double meaning. She is distinguishing the difference of men and women and criticizing those who believe that “woman” is included when one says “man” especially in literature.  The poem displays the discrepancies between male centered language and female centered language and the differences in connotation of the same words. Ex: “man”  Structure: It is written in paragraph format which indicates that it is intended as an extension of the myth itself.  Archetypal Critical Lens: Feminism—the Sphinx represents the traditional feminist who demands equal rights in all aspects of life.  [] []