“But when we had gone apart, after no long time we looked back, and Oedipus we saw- nowhere any more, but the king alone, holding his hand before his face to screen his eyes, as if some dread sight had been seen, and such as none might endure to behold.”
~ ‘Oedipus at Colonus’ by Sophocles (Richard. C. Jebb translation. p129)
Re-write of the post - 7/3/2024
The play opens with the blind, elderly Oedipus and his daughter Antigone arriving at a sacred grove near Athens. A stranger comes in and tells them that they’re on the sacred ground dedicated to the Eumenides (Furies). Oedipus asks to see the king, Theseus and the stranger leaves. The local elders (Chorus) come in and ask Oedipus to sit in a corner. After getting to know about his cursed past, they want him to leave but Oedipus questions Athens’ reputation for hospitality.