Hope in Oedipus at ColonusThe Greek tragedy Oedipus at Colonus was written by the famous Greek playwright Sophocles around 404 BC In the work, considered one of the best Greek dramas ever written, Sophocles uses the now old and destroyed Oedipus as a declaration of hope for man. Since Oedipus was king and honor before his exile from his kingdom of Thebes, he is reduced to a poor blind old man who wonders, "Who will welcome the wandering Oedipus today?" (Sophocles 283) most of the time of his life is now as low as that of a peasant. Even though the former ruler of Thebes has been blinded and desecrated to the point of becoming a beggar, he will not give up his life and that of his two daughters Antigone and Ismene, and his two sons Eteocles and Polynieces who were supposed to help his grieving father as true sons and true men, but instead "guard the hearth like girls" (304). Yet Oedipus still praises those who helped him, his daughters Antigone and Ismene, even though he cannot see, he is poor and his life has no meaning for him, he recognizes honor and loyalty when he sees her: “Antigone gives the time in which left her childhood behind and reached full strength, volunteered for the pain, wandering with me, driving the old misery, hungry... Hard work, but you endured it all, never a second though for home, a lifetime decent, so long since your father had some care and comfort. And you, child, in the first days, unknown in Thebes, left the city, brought your father the oracles and the prophecy said that they would touch his life. You were my faithful guard, you took that part when I was an exile from the land…” (304). It would be difficult to think of more oppressive suffering...... middle of paper...... Hall , Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 1968.Roche, Paul. Sophocles' Oedipus Comedies. The New English Library Limited, London. New York and Scarborough, Ontario. 1958.Sophocles. The three Theban comedies: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. Penguin books. New York, New York. 1982, 1984. Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays edited by Thomas Woodward: Oedipus at Colonus. Whitman, Cedric H. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 1966.ContornoI. The decency of Oedipus. To the daughters. To the children II. I'll wait. Featuresii. Clothingiii. Blindediv. ConfidentIII. Suffering. Murder of the father/wife's motherii. Betrayed by his children. Exilediv. Blinded/beggarIV. Divinities. He prays to the gods who must punish him. Chooses the place of deathV. Actual. On Theseusis. On man