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    Oedipus at Colonus: A Play
    Oedipus at Colonus: A Play
    Oedipus at Colonus: A Play
    Ebook82 pages51 minutes

    Oedipus at Colonus: A Play

    By Sophocles and F. Storr

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    The ancient Greek tragedy about the exiled king’s final days—and the power struggle between his two sons.

    The second book in the trilogy that begins with Oedipus Rex and concludes with Antigone, Oedipus at Colonus is the story of an aged and blinded Oedipus anticipating his death as foretold by an earlier prophecy. Accompanied by his daughters, Antigone and Ismene, he takes up residence in the village of Colonus near Athens—where the locals fear his very presence will curse them. Nonetheless they allow him to stay, and Ismene informs him his sons are battling each other for the throne of Thebes. An oracle has pronounced that the location of their disgraced father’s final resting place will determine which of them is to prevail. Unfortunately, an old enemy has his own plans for the burial, in this heart-wrenching play about two generations plagued by misfortune from the world’s great ancient Greek tragedian.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateMay 5, 2020
    ISBN9781504062831
    Oedipus at Colonus: A Play
    Author

    Sophocles

    Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than or contemporary with those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides.

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    Reviews for Oedipus at Colonus

    3.5/5

    167 ratings6 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Fall 2018, Teacher Read:

      My Seniors are doing Oedipus, and my Sophomores are doing Antigone, and it seemed fitting that I should read the whole Theban Trilogy again since my daily life is half-immersed within it currently. I, honestly, couldn't remember if I had to read this one in college or not.

      I know I didn't read it before then, and so I decided to read the middle play this year. As Oedipus falls, Theseus and Oedipus's son rise, while his daughters take a slowly greater role. I can't help laughing a little that Oedipus' death is off screen and basically a 'miracle we can not speak of.'
    • 3/5
      A straightforward romp, the second in The Oedipus Cycle, detailing the journey-- both internal and external, that Oedipus makes. It was entertaining and there were many good passages and lines to behold. Nevertheless, it came off as a little basic but that might be part of its charm.3 stars!
    • 3/5
      Perhaps 3½ stars for the play but not in this translation. Storrs translated the ancient Greek as if he was trying to write like an Elizabethan. I have enough trouble understanding the Elizabethans when their native tongue was English!I don't think that this play is as good (strong, powerful) as the other two Oedipus plays. However, this middle play of Sophocles' trilogy provides an important bridge between the more powerful first (Oedipus Rex) and last (Antigone) plays. It concludes the action of Oedipus Rex and sets the scene for the action in Antigone. Those two can of course stand on their own, but this play does flesh out the overarching story.
    • 1/5
      I understand that this trilogy is a classic, and has stood for over two thousand years. There are some real questions proposed by Oedipus and Theseus that are worth thinking about. However, Sophocles' work seems to ramble on - carried by frequent dialogue from 'the Chorus.' This reduces the effectiveness of the message, and makes it hard to follow in general. A reliance upon the mass protestations of the public (the Chorus) seems like an easy way to push plot along without developing characters, in my opinion.
    • 5/5
      As enchanting and vivid as Oidipous Tyrannos and I'm tempted to say I like it even better if only because it ends with a vision of peace, or at least of Oedipus finding peace while all around him slides into war. I was impressed with his little rationalizations over the years--he has learned the humility of the outcast, and yet he's still gone from seeing how his parricide at the crossroads was a result of hubris to telling himself it was self-defence so long he believes it. I liked how Creon's arc went from superficially principled at the start of the first play, organically, to bad dude by the end of this one. And the sweetness of the daughters that had barely known a time when their father wasn't a monster, that had just known no other way to love him, as compared to the sons who never got over losing dickhead dad to sick humiliation and turned into bastards themselves. There are a lot of great character arcs that emerge across the two plays that wouldn't be evident from this one alone--Theseus's being the only exception, although he's good too; I'm not sure quite how the play made him seem legit wise and not some instructive cardboard of the good hero king--and that's why it's such a shame that they're separate works, each less than the whole of which they make up the parts. The Aristotelian unities seem increasingly unmotivated, arbitrary, artificial.
    • 2/5
      This play is not as interesting as the others in the Oedipus cycle. It concerns the period immediately preceding Antigone, and is very talky, with many of the long speeches adding little to the information or entertainment value. The play would be a total wash for anyone not familiar with Oedipus the King or the myth in general; though it does discuss the tragedy, it doesn't fulfill expectations in any way. Primarily interesting as a piece of theatrical history.

    Book preview

    Oedipus at Colonus - Sophocles

    Dramatis Personæ

    Oedipus, banished King of Thebes.

    Antigone, his daughter.

    Ismene, his daughter.

    Theseus, King of Athens.

    Creon, brother of Jocasta, now reigning at Thebes.

    Polyneices, elder son of Oedipus.

    Stranger, a native of Columbus.

    Messenger, an attendant of Theseus.

    Chorus, citizens of Colonus.

    Scene: In front of the grove of the Eumenides

    Oedipus at Colonus

    Enter the blind OEDIPUS Led by his daughter, ANTIGONE.

    OEDIPUS: Child of an old blind sire, Antigone,

    What region, say, whose city have we reached?

    Who will provide today with scanted dole

    This wanderer? ‘Tis little that he craves,

    And less obtains—that less enough for me;

    For I am taught by suffering to endure,

    And the long years that have grown old with me,

    And last not least, by true nobility.

    My daughter, if thou seest a resting place

    On common ground or by some sacred grove,

    Stay me and set me down. Let us discover

    Where we have come, for strangers must inquire

    Of denizens, and do as they are bid.

    ANTIGONE: Long-suffering father, Oedipus, the towers

    That fence the city still are faint and far;

    But where we stand is surely holy ground;

    A wilderness of laurel, olive, vine;

    Within a choir or songster nightingales

    Are warbling. On this native seat of rock

    Rest; for an old man thou hast traveled far.

    OEDIPUS: Guide these dark steps and seat me there secure.

    ANTIGONE: If time can teach, I need not to be told.

    OEDIPUS: Say, prithee, if thou knowest, where we are.

    ANTIGONE: Athens I recognize, but not the spot.

    OEDIPUS: That much we heard from every wayfarer.

    ANTIGONE: Shall I go on and ask about the place?

    OEDIPUS: Yes, daughter, if it be inhabited.

    ANTIGONE: Sure there are habitations; but no need

    To leave thee; yonder is a man hard by.

    OEDIPUS: What, moving hitherward and on his way?

    ANTIGONE: Say rather, here already. Ask him straight

    The needful questions, for the man is here.

    [Enter STRANGER]

    OEDIPUS: O stranger, as I learn from her whose eyes

    Must serve both her and me, that thou art here

    Sent by some happy chance to serve our doubts—

    STRANGER: First quit that seat, then question me at large:

    The spot thou treadest on is holy ground.

    OEDIPUS: What is the site, to what god dedicate?

    STRANGER: Inviolable, untrod; goddesses,

    Dread brood of Earth and Darkness, here abide.

    OEDIPUS: Tell me the awful name I should invoke?

    STRANGER: The Gracious Ones, All-seeing, so our folk

    Call them, but elsewhere other names are rife.

    OEDIPUS: Then may they show their suppliant grace, for I

    From this your sanctuary will ne’er depart.

    STRANGER: What word is this?

    OEDIPUS: The watchword of my fate.

    STRANGER: Nay, ‘tis not mine to bid thee hence without

    Due warrant and instruction from the State.

    OEDIPUS: Now in God’s name, O stranger, scorn me not

    As a wayfarer; tell me what I crave.

    STRANGER: Ask; your request shall not be scorned by me.

    OEDIPUS: How call you then the place wherein we bide?

    STRANGER: Whate’er I know thou too shalt know; the place

    Is all to great Poseidon consecrate.

    Hard by, the Titan, he who bears the torch,

    Prometheus, has his worship; but the spot

    Thou treadest, the Brass-footed Threshold named,

    Is Athens’ bastion, and the neighboring lands

    Claim as their chief and patron yonder knight

    Colonus, and in common bear his name.

    Such, stranger, is the spot, to fame unknown,

    But dear to us its native worshipers.

    OEDIPUS: Thou sayest there are dwellers in these parts?

    STRANGER: Surely; they bear the name of yonder god.

    OEDIPUS: Ruled by a king or by the general voice?

    STRANGER: The lord of Athens is our over-lord.

    OEDIPUS: Who is this monarch, great in word and might?

    STRANGER: Theseus, the son of Aegeus our late king.

    OEDIPUS: Might one be sent from you to summon him?

    STRANGER: Wherefore? To tell him aught or urge his coming?

    OEDIPUS: Say a slight service may avail him much.

    STRANGER: How can he profit from a sightless man?

    OEDIPUS: The blind man’s words will be instinct with sight.

    STRANGER: Heed then; I fain would see thee out of harm;

    For by the looks, marred though they be by fate,

    I judge thee noble; tarry where thou art,

    While I go seek the burghers—those

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