Oedipus at Colonus is the second of Sophocles’ Theban plays and the last to be written, completed just before his death and never produced during his lifetime.  The play describes the last day of the tragic life of Oedipus and is set near Athens in the village of Colonus, Sophocles’ birthplace.  As always, a prophecy lies at the center of the plot: Oedipus will die at a sacred place of the Furies and will be a blessing to the country in which he is laid to rest. The play begins with Antigone leading the aged, blind Oedipus into the sacred grove of the Furies, where the play takes place. The Furies, goddesses who pursue violators of blood relationships, should be seeking revenge on the man who has committed notorious crimes of patricide and incest.  Nevertheless, Oedipus believes he has found his prophesied final resting place, and stands his ground.  When his identity is discovered, he appeals for mercy, explaining that his famous crimes were committed unknowingly. He requests sanctuary and a sanctified, secret burial from the king and promises the blessings of the gods and a defense of the city in return. After challenges, trickery, treachery and paradoxes, a thunderstorm signals that his time has come. Oedipus leads the king and his daughters to a secret site in the grove and ritually ends his life, completing a transformation from a disgraced, ragged beggar to a valiant survivor who sets an example of the human ability to persevere against all odds. 

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