Why do we die? What process causes the human body to stop protecting and building itself and start to malfunction? The answer to this, if it is ever found, touches on religious and scientific perspectives.

The seekers for the proverbial Fountain of Youth were and are many. Even today, scientists look for the key to unlock the riddle about why humans age and die.

In times past, riddles about old age were plentiful, as were riddles about all sorts of other things.

In one Norse legend, Thor wrestled with a symbolic woman who represented old age. He lost the contest because the answer to the riddle about the City of Illusion was that death was inevitable. Every man must die sooner or later.

The Sphinx became a symbol for many things. ("The word "sphinx" comes from the Greek Σφιγξ — Sphigx, apparently from the verb σφιγγω — sphiggo, meaning "to strangle" (note that the ng and nx sounds were written in ancient Greek as a double gammas.")

In Oedipus Rex, the hero answered the Sphinx's riddle. In so doing, he was granted entrance to Thebes. The fable teaches that the king cannot escape his fate. If a person knew his fate ahead of time, this could cause the same despair Thor experienced when he was defeated by Elli who symbolically represented old age.

Another riddle is found in the story of the Gordian Knot. It is said that Alexander the Great cut the knot with his sword, fulfilling a prophesy. Other opinions were that he pulled out a pin that held the knot together. Some suggest that the knot was a cipher guarded by the religious priests of the time. What knowledge did this cipher unlock?

This knot was a symbol for a difficult problem. Like the Sword in the Stone of Arthurian legend, it was considered nearly impossible to solve. This puzzle, like Oedipus' riddle and the sword in the stone, was linked to kingship.