Oedipus and the Sphinx, Greek Pottery, Hand made replica, Red Figure Wall Plate 28cm

RED FIGURE WALL PLATE

circa 480 B.C.
‘Oedipus and the Sphinx’

Depicted on this wall plate is Oedipus seated, listening to the Sphinx telling him the riddle. The story of this myth goes like this:
During Oedipus’s travels, he heard that there was a Sphinx perched on a post at a cross road just outside Thebes who would eat anyone who could not answer its riddle correctly.

Unfortunately, no one could find the correct answer. So Oedipus went to try his luck. The riddle was : “What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening?”. Oedipus answered the riddle correctly, which was “a person during his life”.