Editing Oedipus at Colonus (section)

===Guilt===

''Oedipus at Colonus'' suggests that, in breaking divine law, a ruler's limited understanding may lead him to believe himself fully innocent; however, his lack of awareness does not change the objective fact of his guilt.<ref name="Sophocles. Sophocles I 1991">{{cite book |title=Sophocles. Sophocles I: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone |edition=2nd |editor-last=Grene |editor-first=David|editor1-link=David Grene|editor2-last=Lattimore |editor2-first=Richmond|editor2-link=Richmond Lattimore|location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1991 |isbn=0-226-30792-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/sophoclesioedipu00soph }}</ref>

The presented view of determination of guilt is complex, as illustrated by the dichotomy between the blessing and the curse upon Oedipus. He has committed two crimes that render him a sort of monster and outcast among men: incest and patricide. His physical suffering, including his self-inflicted blindness and lonely wandering, is his 'punishment'. In the play Oedipus is "rationally innocent" – that he sinned unknowingly – which decreases his guilt, allowing his earthly sufferings to serve as sufficient expiation for his sins. In death, he will be favored; the place in which he dies will be blessed.<ref name="Sophocles. Sophocles I 1991"/>