Lekythos (Attic red-figure ware)
450 BCE
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
43.3 × 12.4 × 12.2 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1980
© Public Domain
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts - Great Hall Costume Corridor
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This lekythos, or tall oil flask, has a particularly lustrous black glaze against which the simple two-figure composition stands out in sharp contrast. The scene shows the confrontation between Oedipus, a tragic hero in Greek mythology, and the Sphinx. In the myth, Oedipus solves the famous riddle posed by the Sphinx, thus winning himself a kingdom and a queen – whom he eventually discovers to be his own mother. The scene is sober but dramatic and foreboding, and reflects the popularity of the story of Oedipus and the inevitability of fate with fifth-century dramatists and their audiences.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Attica, Greece
Accession Number
D394-1980
Department
Antiquities
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Physical description
Tall, slender-bodied vessel with a pronounced, angular shoulder and cup-mouth; a single handle. Decorated in lustrous black-glaze, with a red-figure scene of Oedipus and the Sphinx. The Sphinx sits to the left, with a youthful human head with curly hair, the body of a lion, and wings. To the right stands Oedipus, wearing a cloak and petasos behind his neck and holding a tall staff in the centre. Below the scene is a zigzag border. Above is a band of meander and saltires. On the shoulder are three black-figure palmettes. The exterior edge of the foot is reserved.