Oedipus At Colonus, 1

Oedipus, old and feeble, wanders with his daughter Antigone.  They come upon a town of Athens and ask a passerby their current location.  He first chastises them for spoiling the holy ground of the Eumenides [?]-- the "Kindly Ones".  At this, Oedipus senses he is at his journey's end.  The passerby explains they are in Colonus, ruled by King Theseus.  Oedipus asks to speak to some of the townspeople, and the citizen departs.

Alone with Antigone, Oedipus tells of the secret prophecy that he would end his life in a place such as this.

A group of townspeople-- the Chorus-- approaches Oedipus and scolds him for spoiling the holy ground.  Antigone helps him outside of the sacred boundary, where he converses with the Chorus.  They ask his name, but he is hesitant to make it known.  Finally, he mentions Laius, and the Chorus recognize him as the wretched, cursed Oedipus-- and instantly want to banish him from their land.  Antigone pleads his case and asks for pity on what is now simply a broken old man.  The Chorus demures, and Oedipus stands up for himself-- in the intervening years he has gained some perspective on the horrible fate that befell him.  The Chorus is content to allow the city's leader to come and decide what to do.

Oedipus's other daughter Ismene suddenly arrives.  She is happy to see her father and sister-- they have had contact over the intervening years-- but brings disturbing news out of Thebes.  Both of Oedipus's sons are jealous of Creon's control over the city, and are at war with him and with each other for the throne.  The younger Eteocles is in power while the elder Polyneices prepares an army for invasion.  They also have an oracle saying Oedipus will return to hand the power of the city to one of them once and for all.  Oedipus is incensed-- fie on that!  He curses them both.  Moreover, he's not too pleased with the whole city of Thebes either.  After his initial despair when he blinded himself, he actually got used to the fate that he had been dealt and was somewhat ready to move on.  At that moment, the city banished him while his sons sat by and did nothing.

So Oedipus is done with Thebes, and is willing to belong to the city of Colonus now.  The Chorus explains a rite of purification he must perform for trespassing on the holy ground, and the prayer he must say to the Eumenides.  Ismene performs the rite for him.

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Very dramatic, formal, and ceremonial so far.  The action might pick up, but it is certainly a more mellow narrative than Sophocles's earlier works.