Oedipus and the Sphinx

I have chosen to do my essay paper on picture of Oedipus and the Sphinx that is in our book because it was a picture that we did not discuss in class. The body language in this picture shows both focus and anticipation. I will attempt to explain the by discussing three parts of the picture. The parts I will be talking about are the stance of Oedipus, the stance of the Sphinx and the eye contact that they have with each other. Before I start off with the first part of my paper, let me say that even though this is a picture in the book it was a painting first and I am going to refer to it as a painting.

Oedipus’s stance to me shows focus by the way he is holding his hands and his posture in general. The way he is holding his left hand to me shows he is focused on the riddle and is trying to think of an answer to it. His pointer finger is protruding away from the others, not straight to point but as if he is using his fingers to help his thought process and focus on finding the right solution to the riddle. He is leaning forward and is resting on his left arm in anticipation of hearing what the Sphinx has to say. This is a relaxed position so he can focus on the riddle and finding a solution for it. His right hand is not holding anything and his arm is bent and cradling the spears in his elbow, showing me he is not afraid of the Sphinx but focused on her and the riddle she has posed. His posture is very relaxed with bends in all the joints, even his back leg is appears slightly bent. This leads me to believe he is relaxed and his only focus is the Sphinx and the riddle. In this painting he does not appear to have a care in the world other than trying to solve this riddle.

The Sphinx’s stance is one that shows anticipation and she is just waiting for the answer, the wrong answer it’s probably the desired answer. The way her paw is drawn up in the air and her claws are out shows an anticipation for the wrong answer and shows she is ready to strike out at him if it is a wrong answer. The Sphinx does not appear to be relaxed like Oedipus but is anticipating a wrong answer and her stance is one ready for movement. The leg and paw on the ground shows some muscle definition which leads me to belief she is anticipating movement like she is poised to strike. With her wings up it appear she could be anticipating attack and with one swoop of her wings she could be upon him.

The eye contact between Oedipus and the Sphinx appears to be one that will not break. She is anticipating an answer and is looking into his eyes as if they may reveal or alter his thought process. He is focused on her as well as solving the riddle. I think he is intrigued by the Sphinx, she is a beautiful but deadly beast in this painting. They are so close together that nothing is distracting them and their eye contact is unbroken by the man off in the distance, not far but they are focused on each other.

I think that this painting is very good and has an excellent display of body language. As I have explained the body language to me shows both focus and anticipation between Oedipus and the Sphinx. Overall I think the painting is true to the story but I don’t think that foot in the left hand corner of the painting needs to be there. The bones add reality to the painting as the past victims were killed and eaten with only the bones left behind.