Oedipus and the Sphinx Oedipus and the Sphinx Oedipus and the Sphinx is an 1864 oil on canvas painting by Gustave Moreau that was first exhibited at the French "Salon" of 1864 where it was an immediate success. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work was a fresh treatment of the established subject of the meeting between Oedipus and the Sphinx on the road to Delphi, notably portrayed at Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex. 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
Oedipus Rex larger myth obliquely, which was already known to the audience in Athens at the time. The trilogy containing "Oedipus Rex" took second prize in the City Dionysia at its original performance. Aeschylus's nephew Philocles took first prize at that competition. However, in his "Poetics", Aristotle considered "Oedipus Rex" to be the tragedy which best matched his prescription for how drama should be made. Many modern critics agree with Aristotle on the quality of "Oedipus Rex", even if they don't always agree on the reasons. For example, Richard Claverhouse Jebb claimed that "The "Oedipus Tyrannus" is in one sense the masterpiece