The Riddle of the Sphinx

Recently, I was fortunate to see an adaption of the play Trojan Women by Euripides performed at the amphitheater at the Getty Villa in Malibu. It was wonderfully magical to sit under a bright moon at the edge of the Pacific ocean and watch a play that has been enjoyed by audiences for more than two millenia. Sophocles, a contemporary of Euripides, is famous for his Theban trilogy which tells the story of Oedipus (Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone). Although Oedipus is best known for marrying his mother, Queen Jocasta of Thebes, he only did so after solving the riddle of the Sphinx. The Sphinx in this story is not the well-known Sphinx on the Giza plain in Egypt.

According to Apollodorus, the City of Thebes would be free of the Sphinx only when this riddle was solved: t? ?st?? ? µ?a? ???? f???? tet??p??? ?a? d?p??? ?a? t??p??? ???eta? (“what has one voice and is four footed and becomes two footed and then three footed?”). With all this talk of feet, it’s interesting to note that Oedipus’ name means swollen foot. For a more humorous retelling of the grim story of Oedipus’ “odd complex”, I encourage you to listen to Tom Lehrer’s Oedipus Rex.

My Riddle

My Corporate Securities Law riddle is as follows: When does a corporation with two shareholders have no oustanding shares?