I finished reading the last of Sophocles’ three Theban plays (by publication date, not chronology of material), of which I reviewed in Notes Antigone and Oedipus the King previously.  The last play, Oedipus at Colonus, was not performed until after Sophocles’ death, and it reflected Athens’ declining fortunes in its ongoing war against Sparta, which the latter would soon emerge victorious.  It is the weakest of the three plays, both because its plot structure is weak - an old blind man finds a spot to die, speaking of the location only to the Athenian king - and because its themes are muddled (also, Sophocles lived to be really old, so the play is the product of a really old man with likely declining facilities from his peak).  The core theme, I guess, is that Oedipus was not guilty of the crimes of killing his father and marrying his mother because he didn’t know of the relationship at the time of either, and because the prophecies were made by the Gods before Oedipus was even born. This is true as far as it goes, and it highlights the nature of fate vs. free will, but it wasn’t delivered in nearly as compelling a fashion as the themes of the prior two plays (Antigone’s core theme was about finitude and limitation, where what is denied/repressed ultimately manifests itself; while Oedipus the King focused on the nature of free will being to consciously embrace one’s destiny or run from it, but it will happen regardless). 

One aspect I did appreciate was that Oedipus in this play has fully crossed the threshold and embraces his heleq, his portion on this plane: unlike in Oedipus the King, here he accepts fate, the will of the Gods, and states right at the start of the play, “It’s little I ask and get still less, but quite enough for me.  Acceptance - that is the great lesson suffering teaches.”  Indeed, and this is a point that I emphasize heavily in my own writing: at some point in life the nature of existence as finitude, pain, and loss creates pressure to stop ego-deciding and begin listening to the Self within.

With that said, Colonus was a bit of a struggle to get through, although I did appreciate the enantiodromia of the text: the lowest of the low individual in society, cursed by the Gods, is ultimately offered a form of redemption - but not for himself (he dies), not for his country (its against his country), and not for his family (who are almost all cursed) - but the redemption of descending to the underworld guided by the Gods at the end of his life, and also of honoring the king of Athens, Theseus, who helped him when no one else of status would.  The intent of the play seems to have been to have tried to offer Athens hope that the war would turn around in their favor by divine intervention, which didn’t happen.