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Oedipus and King Lear

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Submitted By litsaz1995
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It is several years after OEDIPUS was banished from Thebes, the city he once ruled. The play begins in the GROVE OF THE FURIES at Colonus, which is close to and ruled by the great city of Athens. Oedipus is now a sorry sight, blind and hobbled, dressed in rags, led by his daughter ANTIGONE.
OEDIPUS tells ANTIGONE that acceptance is the lesson taught by his suffering. He then asks Antigone to find a place for them to rest, and wonders where they are. Antigone recognizes Athens in the distance, though she doesn’t recognize their precise location. But from the landscape she believes they are on holy ground. They decide to rest.
A CITIZEN of Colonus approaches and demands that they move from their resting place, because it is holy ground, THE GROVE OF THE FURIES. OEDIPUS responds that this is a sign and that in fact he must not move from this place, which will be his refuge. He asks the citizen to send for the king, THESEUS, and promises that if Theseus does Oedipus a small service, great good will come of it. The citizen leaves. Oedipus prays to the Furies. In his prayer, he says that, in the same prophecy in which the god Apollo foretold Oedipus’s terrible fate, the god also spoke of the grove of the Furies as a place where Oedipus could rest, and where the last chapter of Oedipus’s life would take place.
More citizens (the CHORUS) come looking for the stranger who has dared to set foot on the sacred ground of the terrible Furies. When OEDIPUS speaks to them, they tell him he must step out of the GROVE OF THE FURIES. He does, with ANTIGONE’s help, and sits on a rocky area just outside the grove. The chorus ask his name and background. Reluctantly, Oedipus identifies himself. Upon hearing his name, the chorus shrinks back in terror and commands him to leave before he brings ruin to their city.
ANTIGONE appeals to the citizens’ pity and humanity. OEDIPUS says they

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