Oedipus at Colonus

Seeing Theseus approach with Antigone and Ismene, the Choral leader announces that their prophecies are sound. Antigone calls out to her father, and they embrace. He asks to hear her story, but she defers to Theseus to tell it. Oedipus addresses Theseus, expressing his joy and appreciation for the restoration of his daughters. He asks for Theseus’s hand, then immediately withdraws the request, saying he is stained by evil and cannot permit himself to touch the king.

In response, Theseus states that he is neither surprised nor offended by Oedipus’s joyful response to being reunited with his daughters. Feeling no need to boast of his victory, Theseus tells Oedipus that Antigone will tell him the details of their recapture later. He then reveals that a Theban citizen and kinsman of Oedipus is waiting at Poseidon’s altar and wishes to speak with him. Oedipus realizes that it must be his son, whose words he does not want to hear as they will “cause [him] excruciating pain” (Line 1174).

Asking Oedipus rhetorically whether they must honor suppliants, Theseus warns him not to disrespect gods. Antigone agrees, saying that Oedipus should hear what her brother has to say.