Liminality, (In)accessibility, and Negative Characterization in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus

The essay argues that Sophocles in Oedipus at Colonus established a deliberate interplay between the privative features that mark Oedipus’ (self-)description and those of the land of his future heroisation. This is shown by the recurrent employment of privative lexical items and negative phrases variously applied to both the hero and the place where the dramatic action of the play takes place, the sacred grove of the Eumenides, at Colonus. Instances of such inter-play are disseminated throughout the play and even apply to ritual-performative aspects. Through a detailed linguistic analysis, it is argued that Sophocles strove to provide a coherent and congruent characterisation of Oedipus, the ‘liminal’ hero deprived of his social status, and the sacred, inaccessible grove of Colonus.