In Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles dramatizes the end of the tragic hero's life and his mythic significance for Athens. During the course of the play, Oedipus undergoes a transformation from an abject beggar, banished from his city because of his sins, into a figure of immense power, capable of extending (or withholding) divine blessings.
As the play opens, Oedipus appears as a blind beggar, banished from Thebes. Oedipus and Antigone, his daughter and guide, learn they have reached Colonus, a city near Athens, and are standing on ground sacred to the Eumenides (another name for the Furies). This discovery causes Oedipus to demand that Theseus, king of Athens, be brought to him. Meanwhile, Oedipus' other daughter, Ismene, arrives from Thebes with the news that Creon and Eteocles, Oedipus' son, want Oedipus to return to Thebes in order to secure his blessing and avoid a harsh fate foretold by the oracle. Oedipus refuses to return, and when Theseus arrives, Oedipus promises him a great blessing for the city if he is allowed to stay, die, and be buried at Colonus.
