An Analysis Of Sophocles 'Oidipus At Colonus'

The passage taken from page 182-183, lines 607-623, is a very important part of the tragedy Odipous at Colonus because it encompasses a lot of the main ideas in the play. Oidipous talks to Theseus about life death and the immortality of the gods. It seems to express that Oidipous has a very sorrowful and pessimistic outlook on life, most specifically his own. A quote from that passage that shows the remorse is, “trust dies, distrustfulness springs into life, the breath of friendship does not stay the same” (pg. 183, lines 611-12). The words “dies” and “distrustfulness” both stick out as clear bitterness he shows towards life, which is due to his own tragic sorrows. The play focuses its attention on Oidipous’s eventual journey to becoming a hero, or what might also be
On pages 206-207 lines 1224-1227 in Oidipous at Colonus, the chorus says, “Not to be born conquers all reckoning. But once one has appeared, to go as fast as possible back to the place from which one came.” This passage by the Chorus ties in well with what Oidipous means when he says, “For some folks now, for others at a later time, delightful things turn bitter,” because it shows the true terms of life and the bitterness it holds on people in Sophocles’ plays (pg. 183, lines 614-615). Even in other plays this is shown to be true. An example of a content man whose life becomes more than bitter is Kreon, Oidipous’s brother-in-law and uncle. In the play King Oidipous, Kreon explains to Oidipous his happiness and content by saying, “Why than would I exchange this way of life,” he is talking about his own, “for yours?” (pg. 115, line 599). In Aeschylus’s play Seven Against Thebes; however, when Kreon is now in command, he becomes an entirely different type of person, one so stubborn and blinded by his own wrath that his niece, son and wife all kill themselves because of