Through the Sphinx's riddle, Oedipus was able to become the King since there was a prophecy about the next King being able to answer the riddle. If Oedipus was not able to answer the riddle, then the city would not have been let down by the bad ruling of Oedipus. Thebes would have succeeded as a city-state if someone other than Oedipus was able to answer the questions because you have to deal with personal problems, like family in Oedipus’ case, before you can go into a job that will just add more problems into your life.
