Oedipus at Colonus Oedipus at Colonus Oedipus at Colonus (also Oedipus Coloneus, , "Oidipous epi Kolōnōi") is one of the three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles. It was written shortly before Sophocles' death in 406 BC and produced by his grandson (also called Sophocles) at the Festival of Dionysus in 401 BC. In the timeline of the plays, the events of "Oedipus at Colonus" occur after "Oedipus Rex" and before "Antigone"; however, it was the last of Sophocles' three Theban plays to be written. The play describes the end of Oedipus' tragic life. Legends differ as to the site of Oedipus'
Oedipus Rex the prophecy that the king had sought to avoid by exposing Oedipus at birth is fulfilled. Before arriving at Thebes, Oedipus encounters the Sphinx, a legendary beast with the head and breast of a woman, the body of a lioness, and the wings of an eagle. The Sphinx was sent to the road approaching Thebes as a punishment from the gods, and would strangle any traveler who failed to answer a certain riddle. The precise riddle asked by the Sphinx varied in early traditions, and is not stated in "Oedipus Rex", as the event precedes the play; but the most