The second chapter of Sophocles’ spellbinding saga explores a fallen hero’s redemption, as the aged king Oedipus surrenders himself to the will of the gods.

Oedipus is an old man finally coming to terms with the terrible actions of his earlier life. Blind by his own hand and exiled from Thebes, Oedipus has been driven to Athens, where a prophesy has foretold of his death. As he struggles to accept his fate, he also questions his guilt in his past crimes-transgressions manipulated by the will of the gods. With war now raging over his succession, Oedipus must make his final decision alone-to greet his death in the grove of the Furies, bowing to destiny at last, or to flee from fate once again, rejecting the absolution of the gods.

In Oedipus at Kolonus, Sophocles gives us an activated protagonist capable of reliving and re-evaluating his unlucky past. Oedipus’s weakness and infirmity are secondary to his philosophical rigor in tackling questions of destiny and responsibility in his final quest for glory. This phenomenal translation by Robert Bagg achieves an accurate but idiomatic rendering of the Greek original, suited for reading, teaching, or performing, and sure to open a new generation to the depth and power of Greek drama.