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Title: Oedipus at Colonus by Blundell, Ruby Blondell ISBN: 0-941051-09-9 Publisher: Focus Publishing Pub. Date: June, 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.95

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Summary: The lesson of Oedipus: personal suffering is redemptive
Comment: In Homer's "Iliad" the one reference to Oedipus suggests he ruled in Thebes until he was killed in battle. However, in the more famous version of the tale, told by Sophocles in his classic Greek tragedy "Oedipus the King," Oedipus blinds himself and leaves Thebes. In "Oedipus at Colonus" Sophocles tells of the final fate of the exiled figure. Colonus is a village outside Athens, where the blind, old man has become a benevolent source of defense to the land that has given him his final refuge.

"Oedipus at Colonus was produced posthumously in 401 B.C.E., and the legend is that it was successfully used by Sophocles as his defense against the charge of senility brought by his children. In terms of its lack of dramatic structure (the scenes are connected by the character of Oedipus rather than by the loosely constructed plot) and the melancholy of its lyric odes it is the most atypical of the extant plays of Sophocles. "Oedipus at Colonus" is the most poetic of his plays while at the same time being the least dramatic as well. But it is the characterization of Oedipus as a noble figure that stands out. This is still the same proud and hot-tempered figure who vowed to solve the reason for the curse on Thebes in "Oediups the King," but this is also an Oedipus who has accepted his punishment, even though he insists that he is innocent. After all, the sin responsible for his exile was really that of his mother; if you read "Oedipus the King" carefully you will see that the incestuous part of the prophecy was added by the Oracle after Jocasta tried to have her infant son killed in order to save her husband's life. Consequently, when Oedipus claims to be a helpless victim of destiny, there is ample reason to agree with his interpretation of events.

The fact that this was the last play written by Sophocles offers a line of analysis for understanding "Oedipus at Colonus" as well. You can read in certain lyrics, such as the first "staismon" with its ode to Colonus and the characterization of King Theseus of Athens, the playwright's praise for the democratic institutions and proud history of Athens. On a more psychological level you can consider the play as articulating Sophocles' views on death. These other considerations tend to reduce the importance of the title character, but there is the compelling argument of the play that through his personal suffering Oedipus has been purified