the Sphinx and Formalism

A nude male stands with his back against a cliff face, gently holding a spear with the head resting on the ground. He wears a sash across his chest and a cape attached to the sash falls over his right side. A creature with the body of a cat, wings, and the breasts and face of a woman hovers in the air, pinning him to the cliff face. She wears a diadem. They look at each other, the male displaying no fear and the creature displaying no malice. To the male’s left is an urn on a pedestal, and at his feet are strewn limbs of the dead.


http://jssgallery.org/Other_Artists/Gustave_Moreau/Oedipus_and_the_Sphinx.htm


The sphinx is a threat, shown by the way she has young Oedipus backed up against a cliff. He has reason to be afraid. She is in a position of power, as shown by the diadem she wears, and the limbs in the foreground belong to her previous victims. Oedipus, however, is unafraid and has no intention of fighting the sphinx. His body position is open and the head of his spear is pointed at the ground. The sphinx for her part seems quite taken with Oedipus. She looks up at him, placing herself in a submissive position, and her paws on Oedipus’ chest rest there gently, almost like a lover’s.