Oedipus at Colonus

The Chorus announces Theseus’s approach. Theseus asks Oedipus what he hopes “to gain” (Line 557) from him and Athens, declaring that he will not abandon him. Both were raised far from home, and he does not withhold help from those in need. Praising Theseus’s noble nature, Oedipus says that he brings his “battered body as a gift” (Line 576). Theseus asks what profit his body offers, and Oedipus replies that it will be revealed when he dies if Theseus buries him.

When Theseus calls the request small, Oedipus replies that Theseus will have to fight Oedipus’s sons. They banished him but now want him back because an oracle has threatened that Thebes and Athens will one day be enemies. At that time, Oedipus predicts, Thebes will “be badly bloodied” (Line 605) in Athens. Theseus asks why the two cities will become enemies. Oedipus replies that only the gods are free from death and decay; the honor and good will that make cities allies are impermanent. Oedipus concludes his response by reiterating that he will be useful to Athens. The Chorus confirms that Oedipus has promised this from the start.

Theseus pledges not to spurn Oedipus’s kindness and offers him a place in Athens as a citizen if that is what he desires.