Oedipus the Latin literature of ancient Rome. Julius Caesar wrote a play on Oedipus, but it has not survived into modern times. Ovid included Oedipus in "Metamorphoses", but only as the person who defeated the Sphinx. He makes no mention of Oedipus' troubled experiences with his father and mother. Seneca the Younger wrote his own play on the story of Oedipus in the first century AD. It differs in significant ways from the work of Sophocles. Seneca's play on the myth was intended to be recited at private gatherings and not actually performed. It has however been successfully staged since the
Oedipus Rex widely-known version is, ""what is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?"" Oedipus correctly guesses, ""man"", who crawls on all fours as an infant, walks upright in maturity, and leans on a stick in old age. Bested by the prince, the Sphinx throws herself from a cliff, thereby ending the curse. Oedipus' reward for freeing Thebes from the Sphinx is its kingship, and the hand of the dowager queen, Jocasta; none then realize that Jocasta is Oedipus' true mother. Thus, unknown to all of the characters, the prophecy