Oedipus at Colonus

Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus was produced after his death. It takes place many years after the events of Oedipus Rex. The blind and aged Oedipus, led by his daughter Antigone, comes to a grove at Colonus near Athens (lines 1–20). The villager he meets says the ground belongs to the Eumenides, and Oedipus, instead of leaving, says he will never leave his seat there: this is the “watchword of my fate” (lines 36–46). Apollo had told him that he would end his life where he found a shelter for foreigners and the seat of the dread goddesses, bringing gain to those who received him and ruin to those who drove him out (lines 84–95). The Elders of Colonus first drive him back when they learn who he is (lines 218–236), but he persuades them to wait for King Theseus (lines 258–291). Ismene tells him that his sons are quarrelling over the throne of Thebes and that the Thebans, because of an oracle, want his body to be near their land (lines 361–419). Theseus promises him protection (lines 631–667). Creon then seizes Oedipus’ daughters, and Theseus has them rescued (lines 722–1099). Polyneices comes as a suppliant and is cursed by his father (lines 1249–1446). A storm of thunder tells Oedipus that his end has come; he leads Theseus to the place of his death, and a messenger reports that he vanished without anyone seeing how (lines 1456–1666).

Date and Historical Background

According to the ancient hypothesis (introduction) to the play, Oedipus at Colonus was produced after the death of Sophocles by his grandson and namesake, Sophocles the Younger, son of Ariston, in the archonship of Micon (402/401 BC). Colonus, a deme just outside Athens, is the setting; according to the ancient Life, it was also the deme of Sophocles.

Characters and Setting

Characters

• Oedipus, formerly king of Thebes, now a blind old wanderer
• Antigone, his daughter
• Ismene, his daughter
• A stranger, an inhabitant of Colonus
• Theseus, king of Athens, son of Aegeus
• Creon, a Theban, brother of Jocasta
• Polyneices, Oedipus’ elder son
• A messenger
• Chorus of the Elders of Colonus

Setting

The play is set at Colonus, in a grove of the Eumenides near Athens (lines 14–19, 37–42). The place is also called the bronze threshold of Athens (line 57), and is full of nightingales, laurel, olive and vine. The sanctuary of Poseidon is nearby (lines 887–889, 1156–1159).

Summary of Oedipus at Colonus

Prologue

Oedipus, blind and in the poor clothes of a beggar, enters led by Antigone. He asks where they have come and says that he is content with little, since patience is the lesson of suffering and of long years (lines 1–13). Antigone sees a sacred-looking place with laurel, olive, vine and nightingales, and sits him on an unshaped stone (lines 14–20). She knows Athens only by sight and cannot say what the place is called (line 24). A stranger passes and tells Oedipus to leave his seat, for the ground is unholy to tread upon (lines 36–37). When Oedipus asks whose it is, the stranger says it belongs to “the dread goddesses, the daughters of Earth and Darkness”, whom the people call the all-seeing Eumenides (lines 39–42).

Oedipus prays that they may receive their suppliant kindly, and says that he will never leave his seat in this land (lines 44–46). The stranger will not remove him without reporting to the people of the district (line 47). Oedipus begs him to say more, and learns that the place is sacred to Poseidon and Prometheus, that it is called the bronze threshold of Athens, and that the king of the city is Theseus, son of Aegeus (lines 52–69). Oedipus asks him to send a messenger to Theseus, because, he says, by a small service the king may find a great gain (lines 70–74). The stranger goes off to tell the people of the district (lines 75–80).

Left alone, Oedipus prays to the goddesses. Apollo, when he foretold his woes, spoke of a rest after long years, in a land where he would find a shelter for foreigners, where he would close his life with profit to those who received him and ruin to those who drove him out; signs would be earthquake, thunder or lightning (lines 84–95). He takes the grove as the sign from them, and prays them to pity “this poor ghost of the man Oedipus” (lines 96–110). Antigone sees some old men approaching, and Oedipus hides in the grove (lines 111–116).

Parodos (Entrance Song)

The Chorus of Elders of Colonus enters looking for the man who has trespassed on the grove of the maidens whom no one dares to name (lines 117–137). Oedipus steps forward and the Elders are appalled by his appearance (lines 138–146). They tell him to leave forbidden ground and speak where it is lawful (lines 150–169). On Antigone’s advice he does so, but only after they promise that no one will remove him against his will (lines 170–181). He is led to a ledge of rock outside the grove (lines 182–202). The Chorus asks for his name and parentage; he first asks them not to ask, then names himself: son of Laius, of the Labdacidae, and “the pitiful Oedipus” (lines 203–223). The Elders cry out and order him out of the land, in spite of their promise: they say that no man is punished who repays deeds first done to himself, but he must go and not bring a heavier burden on the city (lines 224–236). Antigone pleads with them (lines 237–253), and the Elders say that they pity both of them but dread the gods (lines 254–257).

First Episode

Oedipus reproaches the Elders. Athens, he says, is known to be god-fearing and alone able to shelter the outraged stranger, and yet they drive him from his seat (lines 258–265). His deeds, he says, were suffered rather than done, he acted without knowledge, and the gods look on the godless and the pious alike; he has come as one sacred and pious, bringing comfort to the people, and he asks them to wait until their leader comes (lines 266–291). The Chorus is moved and agrees that the ruler should judge; it says that Theseus will come as soon as he hears his name (lines 292–307).

Antigone sees a woman on a horse with a Thessalian hat approaching and recognises Ismene (lines 310–323). Ismene comes with the one faithful servant she has, to bring news (lines 324–334). Oedipus remarks bitterly that his sons stay at home like the men of Egypt, while his daughters bear his troubles (lines 335–360). Ismene reports that the brothers first agreed to leave the throne to Creon, but that the younger, Eteocles, has since driven out the elder Polyneices; Polyneices has gone to Argos to find allies and a new marriage connection, planning to take Thebes or to praise her to the sky (lines 361–384). She adds that the oracles say that Oedipus will be sought by the Thebans, alive and dead, for their safety, and that Creon will soon come to settle him near their land, without letting him set foot in it, because his tomb would bring a curse on them if it were neglected (lines 387–412). Both sons have heard the oracle from Delphi, and still prefer the throne (lines 413–420).

Oedipus answers that the gods should not quench their strife and that he should be the one to decide it (lines 421–427). He tells how he was thrust out when his anger had died down, and his sons did not defend him (lines 428–444). His daughters give him food and shelter and family help, and his sons have sold their father for the throne; he will never be their ally (lines 445–454). Creon may come, he says, and if the Athenians will defend him they will gain a great saviour (lines 455–460).

The Chorus tells Oedipus how to atone to the Eumenides: bring water from a spring in clean hands, crown the bowls with fresh lamb’s wool, pour three libations facing the dawn with water and honey and no wine, lay nine olive branches on the ground three times, and pray in a low voice (lines 466–492). Oedipus, being too weak, sends Ismene, who goes off to do it (lines 493–509). The Chorus then asks him to tell his story. He says the greatest of his sufferings came from unintended deeds: a marriage to which the city bound him unknowing, and a killing in ignorance, so that he is pure before the law (lines 510–548).

Theseus arrives, saying he knows him from the stories of his blinding (lines 549–556). He says that he was himself brought up in exile and risked his life, and so would never turn away a stranger in need (lines 557–568). Oedipus says he offers his body as a gift, which will bring gain after his death and burial, and that Thebes will try to take him back (lines 569–592). He tells Theseus how his sons drove him out and that the god’s word will compel them to seek him (lines 593–605). Time, he adds, destroys everything except the gods; today there is peace between Thebes and Athens, but one day they will break the pledges, and then his buried corpse will drink their warm blood, if Zeus is still Zeus and Phoebus speaks true (lines 607–628). Theseus promises that he will not be betrayed, and makes him a citizen of the land, and Oedipus decides to stay in the place where he will conquer those who cast him out (lines 631–652). Theseus says that no one will lead him away against his will and that even in his absence his name will protect him (lines 653–667).

The Chorus sings the praise of Colonus, with its nightingales, ivy, narcissus and crocus, the Cephisus, the olive that no enemy can destroy, and the gifts of Poseidon, the horse and the oar (lines 668–719).

Second Episode

“Land that is praised above all lands, now it is your task to make those bright praises seen in deeds!” says Antigone when she sees Creon approaching with attendants (lines 720–723). Oedipus asks the Elders for the final proof of his safety, and the Chorus tells him that their country is not old and weak (lines 724–727).

Creon says he comes in peace: he is old, he knows that the city is mighty, and he has been sent by all the Thebans, as the nearest kinsman, to bring Oedipus home (lines 728–760). He claims to pity Oedipus’ wandering with one girl, who might be seized by the first passer-by (lines 740–754). Oedipus answers that Creon refused his wish to be cast out when his anger was great, and drove him out only when his grief was soothed (lines 761–774). Creon now comes, he says, to plant him near the borders so that Thebes escapes harm from him, and that will not be: the brooding of Oedipus’ spirit on their land, and his sons’ share of soil to die in, will be all they get (lines 775–799).

Creon then reveals that one of Oedipus’ daughters has already been seized and sent away, and that he will drag off the other at once (lines 800–821). His attendants take Antigone as the Chorus protests, and Creon says he takes what is his own (lines 822–847). The Elders call the men of Colonus (line 841), but Antigone is led away. Creon goes on to threaten Oedipus himself, and Oedipus curses him, praying that the Sun may give Creon and his race an old age like his own (lines 848–870).

Theseus arrives from the sacrifice to Poseidon, where the shouting interrupted him (lines 884–892). He sends horsemen and men on foot to the place where the highways meet to stop the girls, and tells Creon that he will not leave until he brings back the maidens (lines 897–936). Creon replies that he did not think Athens would defend a parricide and a man with an unholy marriage, as the Areopagus would not allow such a wanderer to live in the city, and that he was provoked by Oedipus’ curses (lines 937–959). Oedipus answers him: he did what he did unknowing, a killing that was done in retaliation, and he did not choose his marriage to his mother, who was Creon’s own sister (lines 960–1002). Theseus orders Creon to lead the way to the maidens and promises Oedipus he will not rest until he has restored his children (lines 1016–1043).

The Chorus sings of the coming fight and its wish to be a dove above the battle, and prays to Zeus, Athena and Apollo (lines 1044–1095). It then announces that the maidens are coming back (lines 1096–1099).

Third Episode

Antigone and Ismene return, saved by Theseus and his followers (lines 1099–1106). Oedipus embraces them and thanks Theseus, whom he wishes to touch, then refuses, because he is polluted: only those who have shared such sufferings may share them with him (lines 1107–1138).

Theseus tells him of a small matter: a man of his race but not of his city has thrown himself at the altar of Poseidon where he was sacrificing, and asks to speak with Oedipus and to go away unharmed (lines 1139–1165). Oedipus guesses that it is his son and refuses, because that voice is hateful to him (lines 1166–1180). Antigone speaks for him: he should let Theseus gratify the god and the suppliant, because deeds wickedly devised are betrayed by speech, and a child may be evil while a parent is still bound to him; she tells him to look back at what his own father and mother did to him (lines 1181–1203). Oedipus yields, but asks that no one ever be master of his soul, and Theseus promises that his life is safe while the gods preserve his own (lines 1204–1210).

The Chorus sings that it is folly to wish for a long life: “Not to be born is, beyond all estimation, best”, and the next best thing is to go back quickly to where one came from (lines 1211–1248).

Fourth Episode

Polyneices comes in, alone and weeping (lines 1249–1253). He sees his father’s squalor and admits that he is the worst of men in caring for him; he asks his sisters to move their father’s silence (lines 1254–1279). Antigone advises him to speak (lines 1280–1283). He explains that he came with Theseus’ guarantee, from the altar of Poseidon (lines 1284–1289). His younger brother Eteocles drove him from the land, he says, by persuading the city, not by law or a trial of strength (lines 1290–1299). He has married into the family of Adrastus of Argos and gathered seven armies, whose leaders he names: Amphiaraus, Tydeus, Eteoclus, Hippomedon, Capaneus, Parthenopaeus and himself (lines 1300–1325). He says oracles promise victory to the side Oedipus joins, and he asks his father to come with him and restore both of them to their homes (lines 1326–1345).

The Chorus urges Oedipus to answer (lines 1346–1347). Oedipus says he would not have spoken, had Theseus not sent the man (lines 1348–1354). He tells Polyneices that he drove his father into exile and made him a beggar, and that the daughters, not he, are his nurses (lines 1355–1370). He says Polyneices will never overthrow Thebes, but will fall polluted by his brother’s blood, and that his curses will rule the throne he seeks (lines 1370–1384). He curses him: “may you never defeat your native land, and may you never return to the valley of Argos; I pray that you die by a related hand, and slay him by whom you have been driven out” (lines 1385–1388). He also calls on the darkness of Tartarus and on the god of war (lines 1389–1396). Polyneices accepts that the end of the journey has come and cannot be told to his allies, and he asks his sisters, if they ever reach Thebes, to give him burial (lines 1397–1413). Antigone begs him to turn back his army, but he says he cannot, since he would be mocked by his brother and he is the eldest (lines 1414–1431). He takes leave of them for ever (lines 1432–1446).

The Chorus remarks on the new woes (lines 1447–1456). Then thunder is heard. Oedipus asks for Theseus to be fetched at once, because the thunder of Zeus will lead him to Hades (lines 1456–1475). The Chorus is afraid and prays to Zeus (lines 1463–1499). Theseus comes, and Oedipus tells him that his time has come and he wants to give him what he promised (lines 1500–1518).

He will lead Theseus himself to the place where he must die, and Theseus must never reveal where it is, to anyone: it will be an everlasting defence for Athens against the men of Thebes (lines 1518–1534). Other mysteries he cannot tell even to his own children; Theseus must tell them only to his eldest son at the end of his life, and he to his own heir (lines 1525–1532). Oedipus tells his daughters to follow him, and, without a guide, he says that Hermes and the goddess of the dead lead him (lines 1540–1555). He departs with his daughters, Theseus and his attendants. The Chorus prays to the Unseen Goddess and to Aidoneus to grant him a painless passage (lines 1556–1578).

Exodos (Exit Song)

A messenger enters and says that Oedipus is dead (lines 1579–1584). He tells how Oedipus led them to the Descending Way, near the basin in the rock where Theseus and Peirithous made their pact, and sat down there between the hollow pear tree and the marble tomb (lines 1585–1597). He took off his dirty clothes and asked his daughters to bring water; they washed and dressed him, and then Zeus of the Underworld sent thunder (lines 1598–1606). Oedipus embraced his daughters and told them that they were treated as friends by no one more than the man who was now leaving them (lines 1607–1619). A voice called, “Oedipus, Oedipus, why do you delay our going?” (lines 1620–1628). He asked Theseus for a pledge to protect his children, sent the girls away and kept only Theseus with him (lines 1629–1644). When the others looked back, Oedipus was nowhere to be seen, and Theseus was shielding his eyes as if he had seen something terrible, and then they saw him pray to the earth and to Olympus together (lines 1645–1655). The messenger says that no one but Theseus can tell how Oedipus died; no thunderbolt and no sea-storm took him, but either an escort from the gods or the earth opening kindly (lines 1656–1666).

The daughters come back lamenting (lines 1667–1703). Antigone says that he died on the foreign ground that he wanted, but that she and her sister are left alone (lines 1704–1722). Antigone wants to see his resting-place; Ismene reminds her that he died without a tomb, apart from everyone (lines 1723–1747). Theseus tells them to stop weeping and refuses their request: Oedipus told him that no one should approach the place or pray at the tomb, so that the country might be kept free of harm (lines 1751–1765). Antigone accepts and asks to be sent to Thebes, to try to prevent the bloodshed between her brothers (lines 1766–1772). Theseus agrees to do this and whatever else he can (lines 1773–1776). The Chorus tells them to stop lamenting, for these things are fixed (lines 1777–1779).

A Brief Analysis

The play shows Oedipus, who was destroyed by an oracle in Oedipus Rex, now guided by one. The oracle of Apollo promises him a place of rest that will bring gain to those who receive him (lines 84–95), and the Thebans have an oracle that they will need him alive and dead (lines 387–412, 603–605). The result is a struggle over a man whom nobody cared for before: Creon wants him settled near the border of Thebes, his sons want his help, and Athens receives him. Ismene says so in as many words when Oedipus asks whether he is a man only when he no longer exists: “Yes, for the gods now raise you up; but before they worked your ruin” (lines 393–394).

Hero Yet Again

Oedipus brings blessing and a curse. He promises Athens a defence against Thebes if his tomb stays secret (lines 1518–1534), and he warns that in the future their pledges will be broken and that his buried corpse will drink Theban blood (lines 607–628). He also curses his sons to die by each other’s hand (lines 421–427, 1370–1396). Oedipus refuses both his sons and Creon alike (lines 761–799, 1348–1396). Polyneices, at the end, asks his sisters for the burial that his father has taken away from him (lines 1405–1413).

The play repeatedly asks whether the gods are just to him. Oedipus argues that his crimes were suffered rather than done: he killed in ignorance and married without knowing, and he was born under a doom that was foretold before his birth (lines 266–274, 521–548, 960–999). Theseus, who knows what exile is, treats him as a man like himself (lines 557–568). Athens gives him shelter because a suppliant is owed protection, in the way Theseus says (lines 631–641), and Creon says he had expected Athens to refuse a polluted man (lines 939–949); Theseus does not.

Fate vs. Free Will

The play begins with Oedipus asking where he is (lines 1–6) and ends with no one but Theseus knowing where he lies (lines 1656–1666, 1760–1765). In between, he insists that he has been the victim of events he did not choose, and that he can take action once he knows what the gods require. Where Apollo’s word comes true, it comes true through signs that Oedipus recognises: the grove of the Eumenides (lines 84–95) and the thunder that calls him (lines 1456–1475, 1510–1515). He will not accept blame for his deeds, but he accepts what the gods have decided for his end.

The Chorus puts the other side. Its song says that it is best not to be born, and that old age holds every kind of misery (lines 1211–1248). The messenger, who cannot say how Oedipus died, says only that it was painless and wonderful beyond all mortal men (lines 1656–1666), and Antigone says that he died as he desired (lines 1704–1711). The text states these views side by side, and does not choose between them.

Oedipus at Colonus Sources

Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, lines 1–1779: the arrival at the grove (1–116), the Elders (117–307), Ismene (310–509), Theseus (549–667), Creon (720–1099), Polyneices (1249–1446) and the passing of Oedipus (1447–1779). The ancient hypothesis to the play, for its production by Sophocles the Younger; the ancient Life of Sophocles, for his deme.

See Also: Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Oedipus