Oedipus at Colonus

What is the significance of Oedipus seeking sanctuary in the grove of the Eumenides? What do they represent, and how is it connected to the power of heroes?

At the beginning of the play, Oedipus remarks that his “words will have unerring sight” (Line 74). What is the significance of blindness in the story of Oedipus and within the world of Greek mythology? In your discussion, connect his blindness at the beginning of the play to the recovery of his sight at the end.

To what extent is Oedipus responsible for his actions? Draw on at least three places where Oedipus references his blamelessness in your discussion.

Select two other hero myths from Greek mythology to research. What do their hero journeys have in common with Oedipus’s? How do they differ? What do their journeys suggest about what it means to be a hero in ancient Greek culture?

What is the significance of Zeus’s thunder and lightning in the play? How does it compare with his lightning in other ancient Greek hero myths?

After Oedipus rejects him, Polyneices is determined to carry out his doomed attack, despite Antigone’s pleas for him to abandon it. On balance, is Polyneices’s decision more foolish or pious? Compare his actions with regard to his fate against Oedipus’s.

Just before he disappears into the grove, Oedipus tells Theseus, “think of me, though dead, when fortune smiles” (Line 1556). What does he want Theseus to remember about him, and how does the institution of ancient Greek tragedy support that?

When reporting Oedipus’s death, the Attendant calls his death “wonderful / if ever a mortal’s was” (Lines 1664-1665). What does he mean by this?