Philocles "Erigone", "Nauplius", "Oineus", "Priam", and "Penelope". Philocles Philocles (), was an Athenian tragic poet during the 5th century BC. Through his mother, Philopatho (), he had three famous uncles: Aeschylus, the famous poet, Cynaegirus, hero of the battle of Marathon, and Ameinias, hero of the battle of Salamis. The Suda claims that Philocles was the father of the tragic playwright Morsimus, who was in turn the father of the tragedian Astydamas According to the Suda, Philocles wrote 100 tragedies. Philocles is best known for winning first prize in the competition against Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex". Philocles also wrote a play on
Oedipus Rex the prophecy that the king had sought to avoid by exposing Oedipus at birth is fulfilled. Before arriving at Thebes, Oedipus encounters the Sphinx, a legendary beast with the head and breast of a woman, the body of a lioness, and the wings of an eagle. The Sphinx was sent to the road approaching Thebes as a punishment from the gods, and would strangle any traveler who failed to answer a certain riddle. The precise riddle asked by the Sphinx varied in early traditions, and is not stated in "Oedipus Rex", as the event precedes the play; but the most