Oedipus at Colonus

Oedipus at Colonus, by Sophocles

Background

Oed. at Col. was written at the end of Sophocles' life, thus about 407-6 BC; produced posthumously in 401 BC
Colonus is a "suburb" (that is a village on the outskirts) of Athens, about 1 mile NW, thus Theseus is both king of Athens and of Colonus
Theban cavalry defeat in Colonus, we think, about the time of the play, in 407 BC: in any case, Thebes and Athens are certainly at war at the time the play was written

it is probable that the citizens of Colonus felt the grave of the hero Oedipus to have been instrumental in protecting them from the Theban enemy

Great Goddesses = Awesome Goddesses = Those not to be named are the Furies = the Erinyes = the Eumenides: these are goddesses of retribution who seek out and destroy anyone who has committed a blood sin, such as killing one's father (fitting for Oedipus)
Institution of the suppliant in the sacred precinct (often at an altar): to seize someone there would be like seizing someone in the midst of a service at a church or synagogue or mosque
Chronology: in terms of the myth, clearly the sequence is Oedipus the King, then Oedipus at Colonus, then Antigone. In terms of the composition, Sophocles composed the Oedipus at Colonus last, and the other two in unknown order before (most scholars believe the Antigone was first, Oedipus the King second, but that is rightly disputed)
cult of the hero: unique, so far as we can tell, to Greece

a great and powerful man, whether greatly good or greatly evil, was thought to have divine power inherent in his being
this divine power remained at the grave site, and was both worshipped (or appeased) by the local inhabitants; in turn the divine power of the hero could be turned to good purpose: to help with crops, to help in defence of the city, etc.
[Hero cult compared with Olympian cult

singing procession :: lamentation at procession,
raised altar with fire :: pit dug in the earth,
(circle,water, silence, prayer, grain, hair, sacrificial scream: common to both kinds of sacrifice)
neck of animal victim upwards :: neck downwards,
sunrise :: evening or night

heavenly gods :: those who belong to the earth
gods are remote, heroes local, interested in purely local concerns like plagues, battles. The bond of the hero is dissolved by distance.
cf. Rabbis, Saints: miracles. But not merit, rather power counts. Divine parentage helpful, but not necessary. Example of the criminal at Temesa.

Corcyra = Phaeacians, thus cult to King Alcinous; Athens and the "bones of Theseus"
importance of family ancestors diminishes in favor of a hero or heroes common to the interests of all the citizens: worship of the hero (unlike worship of Zeus) becomes then an expression of group solidarity,
identification with the locality (city)
thus in a real way the publicly worshipped hero Oedipus as depicted in the Oed. at Colonus is the opposite of the privately celebrated burial of Polynices in the Antigone]

The State

The state, notice!, is suddenly an unproblematically good, strong force of order in the society-- or at least that is true of Athens

Example: When the local (the "citizen") first comes upon Oed. in the opening scene, he says, "Well I, for one, I'd never roust you from your seat. I wouldn't dare, not without orders from the city, not till I report what I am doing." (line 57)
In other tragedies (such as Antigone; or Agamemnon) this statement might be prelude to a meditation on tyranny, but here it is reinforced by a series of positive statements: e.g. 204-6 (chorus: "hate with a will whatever the city holds in rooted hatred, honor what the city holds in love")

Example: when Oed. talks of his mother-wife Jocasta, he tells the chorus (605ff): "I received her as a gift, a prize to break the heart-- Oh would to god I'd never served my city, never won the prize of the Sphinx they handed to me!"
Oed's assumption of the throne is no longer, as in Oedipus the King, conceived in terms of personal glory (Oedipus the Great, the one supremely confident in his own wisdom), but he was the dutiful servant of the state, who was ill-used by both gods (who struck him down though innocent) and mortals (including his own sons, who allowed his exile)

Creon, the king of Thebes, is emblemmatic of the bad ruler in that most dysfunctional of cities (see background for the contemporary political situation)

Theseus, the King of Athens (and Colonus), is the vigorous, honest, pious, courageous, no-nonsense man-of-action

Example: 1161, interceding in Oedipus' harangue against Creon: "enough words" and then acts to keep his promises, to support his allies

Myth and the contemporary society

Sophocles as mythmaker: Sophocles, as a poet who receives his inspiration from divinity (the Muses), is licensed to create or alter myths

in Homer, Oedipus continues as King of Thebes after the discovery of the murder of Laius (!);
in other sources, he dies immediately after his blinding; or is blinded by the servants of Creon, presumably as a punishment

in the Oed. the King, he exits by the parados as a man hideously unfortunate, too wise for his own good but blind to the truth and esp. the truth of oracles, and loathed by the gods;
but in Oed. at Colonus, he enters, like Teiresias (the "voice of Apollo") as a blind man who can see, and one who gives true prophecies (that Creon will come; the thunder; his disappearance), first in the name of Apollo, then in his own name; his fortunes have changed: one, then twice, Theseus arrives in the nick of time to save him, and Oed. is confident that the gods will receive him in the end-- which they do!

Creon: in the Oedipus the King, Sophocles makes Creon a "good guy": but in Oedipus at Colonus, he is clearly a "bad guy": since Athens is now at war with Thebes, but probably was not at the time that the Oedipus the King was written

For contemporary Athenians, the play helps to show why the Oedipus that recently saved them from Thebes is truly a "good" hero, one worthy of the city
Oedipus is transformed gradually during the course of the play, from beggar to hero

at the beginning, a dirty beggar, wary, at the end of his rope
at each successive stage in the action, he gains more power, more of his old self but without the hybris: his statements to Creon explaining why he, Oed., was not in fact guilty; his rebuke of the disloyal son Polynices
as each prophecy becomes true, it is increasingly clear (to an ancient audience) that Oed. has a close relationship with the gods of the upper air
thus when Oed. disappears, we are sure that this is not a "striking down" by the gods, but an honor, an exaltation of the hero

Just as Oed. the King shows the power of the gods to humble man, so the Oed. at Colonus shows the power of the gods to exalt man
That this exaltation is linked with Athens is not coincidence!

People and places to know:

Polynices

Eteocles

Ismene

Antigone

Oedipus

Theseus

Colonus

Eumenides ("The Awesome Goddesses")