First as a babe from the womb, four-footed creeps on his way,
Then when old age cometh on, and the burden of years weighs full heavy,
Bending his shoulders and neck, as a third foot useth his staff."[1]—(P.)
And so the successful adventurer is made king, and takes for his wife Jocasta, who had been the wife of Laius, and by her he has both sons and daughters. For some years all went well with Œdipus. He had children, and lands, and wealth, and honour, and all that helps to make life precious. He was happy in the affections of his family and in the loyalty of his subjects. "Heaven and earth are silent for a generation; one might fancy that they are treacherously silent, in order that Œdipus may have time for building up to the clouds the pyramid of his mysterious offences. His four children incestuously born—sons that are his brothers, daughters that are his sisters—have grown up to be men and women before the first mutterings are becoming audible of that great tide slowly coming up from the sea, which is to sweep away himself and the foundations of his house. Hea-
- ↑ De Quincey ingeniously suggests that, after all, the truer answer to the riddle lay in the word Œdipus, since he more than any other fulfilled the conditions of these three ages of man,—first crawling helplessly on his swollen feet; then "walking upright at noonday" in the vigour of manhood, vanquishing the Sphinx, and winning crown and bride by his own unaided natural powers; then, in the closing scene, thrust forth from home and country, guided by his devoted daughter, "the third foot that should support his steps when the deep shadows of his sunset were gathering and settling about his grave."
