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Glite Dictionary
Colonus

Colonus

1 9.9
An ancient area near Athens where Sophocles set his play Oedipus at Colonus
  • proper noun
  • Literature
: Colono
  • Valle-Inclan may well be systematically inverting yet another scene from Oedipus at Colonus, the initial encounter between the hero and his wandering daughter Ismene.
  • Oedipus at Colonus
  • Elders of Colonus

They were Antigone, they were Oedipus Rex, they were Oedipus at Colonus.

Examples

  • (1) Oedipus with his daughter Antigone has wandered into a holy grove of Colonus, a deme of Athens.

    Academic text (1994)

  • The setting of Colonus in ancient Athens plays a crucial role in Oedipus' journey.

  • Much of Oedipus at Colonus deals with the hero's legacy to posterity.

    Academic text (1994)

  • To their plea that he leave Colonus, he answers with an ironic allusion to Athens' fame for hospitality and repeats that his presence will benefit their state.

    Academic text (1994)

  • In Sophocles' play, Oedipus finds peace at Colonus, a revered district of Athens.

  • The characters in Colonus reflect the themes of fate and redemption in Greek tragedy.

Surface Forms

Colonus main

Etymology

The word Colonus comes from the Greek kolonos, which means 'hill', so the district was named for the small hill near Athens that is the setting of Sophocles' play Oedipus at Colonus.