Oedipus and the Sphinx

Lore & Background

The painting depicts Oedipus meeting the Sphinx at the crossroads on his journey between Thebes and Delphi. Oedipus must answer the Sphinx's riddle correctly in order to pass; failure means his own death and that of the besieged Thebans. The riddle was: 'What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night?' Oedipus answered: 'Man: as an infant, he crawls on all fours; as an adult, he walks on two legs and; in old age, he uses a walking stick.' Oedipus was the first to answer correctly, and the Sphinx, astounded, killed herself by leaping from the acropolis (or simply died, depending on the version). Oedipus thereby won the freedom of the Thebans, the kingdom, and as his wife, Jocasta, later revealed to be his mother.

In this work Moreau deliberately rejects the realism and naturalism in vogue in mid nineteenth century France, adopting a deliberately archaic painting style and mythological subject matter. Moreau had sketched Ingres' 1808 Oedipus and the Sphinx in Paris, a likely source for his version. The influence of Italian Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna has also been detected. Unlike Ingres' version where Oedipus appears dominant and the Sphinx defensive, in Moreau's version the Sphinx is on the offensive, clawing at Oedipus whose victory does not yet seem assured. The Sphinx may be seen as a femme fatale, a common theme in late nineteenth century arts and particularly of Symbolist painting.

Reader's Guide

The painting was an immediate success at the Salon, rescuing what was otherwise seen as a mediocre show. Critics of the 1860s identified Moreau as an artist who reshaped the scope of history painting, departing from the dominant theatrical mode toward 'contemplative immobility.' His mythological protagonists, frozen and allegorised, resisted conventional narrative clarity, opening history painting to ambiguity and layered symbolism. The work has been interpreted as Moreau's most forceful response to the mid-nineteenth-century debate between idealism and materialism in French art. Critics hailed it as uniting 'thought and execution,' surpassing Ingres by revealing 'the symbol hidden behind the fable.' For Moreau, the sphinx embodied matter, sensuality, and destruction—the femme fatale whose allure threatened masculine reason—while Oedipus represented moral strength and ascetic self-mastery. The humanization of the sphinx is striking: she displays refined, almost noble features and decorative elements that highlight her feminine aspects over her mythological monstrosity. The primary criticism concerned its artistic influences, with critics warning Moreau to extricate himself from the 'harsh embrace' of Mantegna. After the Salon, Moreau quickly gained a reputation for eccentricity.

Did You Know?

• The painting was first sold by the artist in 1864 to Prince Napoléon Bonaparte for 8000 francs.
• It was given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1920 by William H. Herriman of Rome.
• Moreau left all his extant paintings to the French nation, forming the basis for the Gustave Moreau Museum.
• The Sphinx in the painting may be seen as a form of femme fatale, a common theme in late nineteenth century arts.