From his entrance, Oedipus shows a clear change of character from the passionate, willful hero of Oedipus the King. Older, worn by years of wandering, Oedipus now accepts his fate with resignation, just as he accepts the scraps he begs with patience and humility.
But Oedipus springs to life with the news that he is sitting in a grove sacred to the Eumenides, the sometimes terrible, sometimes kindly spirits who rule over unavenged crimes, especially within families. Oedipus has reason to believe that the Eumenides have taken pity on him. According to the oracle, this grove will be his resting place. In a wild eagerness for release from his suffering, Oedipus refuses to move, despite a citizen’s warning that he is trespassing. In this, he shows the willfulness of the old Oedipus.
His renewed spirit also emerges in his command that the citizen bring Theseus, king of Athens, to the grove to hear what blessings Oedipus might bring the city. Here the old, blind man speaks not only with the authority of a king, but also as a messenger of the gods themselves.
