riddle
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.3|Attic red-figure kylix c. 470 BCE: Oedipus ponders the riddle of the Sphinx, with the fate of Thebes at stake
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A riddle is a puzzle or question posed as a test of wit, often involving wordplay or hidden meanings that require clever thinking to solve. Riddles matter because they have been used throughout history—as shown in ancient Greek mythology—as intellectual challenges that can have serious consequences, and they remain a way to exercise reasoning and creativity.
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35 sectionsContents
- Definitions and research
- Etymology
- Definitions
- Research
- International riddles
- Writing-riddle
- Year-riddle
- Person-riddle
- Two-legs, three-legs, and four-legs
- Four Hang; Two Point the Way
- Featherless bird-riddle
- Riddle-traditions by region
- Babylon
- South Asia
- Hebrew, Arabic and Persian
- Europe
- Greek
- Latin and Romance
- The Germanic-speaking world
- The Celtic-speaking world
- The Finnic-speaking world
- East Asia
- China
- The Philippines
- Africa
- The Americas
- Native American traditions
- Colonial traditions
- <span id="contest">Riddle-contests</span>
- In real life
- In ancient, medieval, and folk literature
- In modern literature
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|upright=1.3|Attic red-figure kylix c. 470 BCE: Oedipus ponders the riddle of the Sphinx, with the fate of Thebes at stake
A riddle is a statement, question, or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and conundra, which are questions relying for their effects on punning in either the question or the answer.