A riddle is a statement, question, or phrase that has a double meaning. A riddle can also be described as a puzzle to be solved. When someone uses a riddle, it can be a thought provoking challenge to figure it out on your own, or it can be a funny comment that makes you laugh. Riddles can be great brain busters or conversation starters to get you think.
A riddle is as hard or as simple as you and the person you’re telling makes it. The answer can be right in front of your nose and even in the riddle itself, or it can be difficult and hard to comprehend. It depends on how much you open your mind to the possibilities.
History of Riddles
Riddles came from old English poetry. Their literary ancestry dates all the way back to Plato and Aristotle. In ancient Greece, riddles were used as a cunning tool, to demonstrate wit and wisdom.
Writers in poetry also began expressing themselves through riddles. When a poem contains a riddle, the reader’s mind can be stimulated and the writer can successfully get their message across in a more interesting way. Some poetry even has answers to it that you had to riddle out.
Theater is another place where riddles show up. Shakespeare was famous for his works, which had a lot of riddles in them. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo proclaimed his love in a riddle for the audience to interpret.
Today, examples of riddles can be found in movies as well. For example, in the movie Saw, Jigsaw the main character engages men and women in a riddle to save their lives. Most of the time the answer is simple, but some are difficult to comprehend.
Riddles can be used in a contest of wit and skill, sort of like a guessing game. Riddle games have been played since ancient times, and are still being played today.
Source: yourdictionary.com
What does man love more than life,
hate more than death or mortal strife;
that which contented men desire,
the poor have, the rich require;
the miser spends, the spendthrift saves,
and all men carry to their graves?
I never was, am always to be,
no one ever saw me, nor ever will
and yet I am the confidence of all
to live and breathe on this terrestrial ball.
It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
it lies behind stars and under hills,
and empty holes it fills.
it comes first and follows after,
ends life, kills laughter.
The beginning of eternity,
the end of time and space
the beginning of every end
and the end of every place.
Never ahead, ever behind,
yet flying swiftly past,
for a child, I last forever,
for adults, I’m gone too fast.
It can be said:
to be gold is to be good;
to be stone is to be nothing;
to be glass is to be fragile;
to be cold is to be cruel.
Unmetaphored, what am I?
This riddle is asked of Oedipus by the Sphinx outside of Thebes:
What goes on four legs in the morning,
on two legs at noon,
and on three legs in the evening?
This thing all things devours;
birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
gnaws iron, bites steel;
grinds hard stones to meal;
slays king, ruins town,
and beats mountain down.
I know a thousand faces,
and count the tailed heads,
feasting bright upon the eyes,
of many who have died.
Wielding well a mighty power,
who hath but humble stature.
Masses fall upon their knees,
to scare behold my only side!
It caused the destruction of Troy,
the worst of tragedies,
and numerous maladies,
yet it is chased, desired and fought for.
What is it?
I may seem real yet I am not,
once you’re gone I’m often forgot.
Time here stretches and it shrinks,
it all depends on how you think.
I may be good, I may be bad,
I may be the same as one you’ve had.
What am I?
First think of the person who lives in disguise,
who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies,
next tell me what’s always the last thing to mend,
the middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard,
during the search for a hard-to-find word.
now string them together, and answer me this,
which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?
First think of the person who lives in disguise,
who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies,
next tell me what’s always the last thing to mend,
the middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard,
during the search for a hard-to-find word.
now string them together, and answer me this,
which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?
We are little airy creatures,
all of diff’rent voice and features,
one of us in glass is set,
one of us you’ll find in jet,
t’other you may see in tin,
and the fourth a box within,
if the fifth you should pursue
it can never fly from you.
~Jonathan Swift~
Pronounced as one letter,
and written with three,
two letters there are,
and two only in me.
I’m double, I’m single,
I’m black blue and grey,
I’m read from both ends,
and the same either way.
It can not be seen whenever it’s there
It fills up a room, it’s much like the air.
It can not be touched, there’s nothing to hear
It is quite harmless, there’s nothing to fear.
I’m in you,
but not in him,
I go up,
but not down,
I’m in the colosseum,
but not a tower,
I’m in a puzzle,
but not a riddle.
What am I?
I am a home of knowledge, both simple and profound.
In grand halls and small homes I can be found.
I am a home for things of many leaves,
but my many residents are not living trees.
What am I?
Two sisters we are, one is dark and one is fair,
In twin towers dwelling we’re quite the pair.
One from land and one from sea,
tell us truly, who are we?
When you have me,
you feel like sharing me.
But, if you do share me,
you don’t have me.
What am i?
There is a certain crime,
that if it is attempted, is punishable,
but if it is committed, is not punishable.
What is the crime?
My first is a creature whose breeding is unclear.
My second, a price you must pay.
My whole can be found in the river of Time
and refers to events of today.
What am I?