Editing Sophocles (section)

====Composition and inconsistencies====
[[File:Giroust - Oedipus At Colonus.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.3|''Oedipus at Colonus'' by [[Jean-Antoine-Théodore Giroust]] (1788), [[Dallas Museum of Art]]]]

The plays were written across thirty-six years of Sophocles' career and were not composed in chronological order, but instead were written in the order ''[[Antigone (Sophocles)|Antigone]]'', ''[[Oedipus Rex]]'', and ''[[Oedipus at Colonus]]''. Nor were they composed as a ''trilogy'' – a group of plays to be performed together, but are the remaining parts of three different groups of plays. As a result, there are some inconsistencies: notably, [[Creon of Thebes|Creon]] is the undisputed king at the end of ''Oedipus Rex'' and, in consultation with Apollo, single-handedly makes the decision to expel Oedipus from Thebes. Creon is also instructed to look after Oedipus' daughters [[Antigone]] and [[Ismene]] at the end of ''Oedipus Rex''. By contrast, in the other plays there is some struggle with Oedipus' sons [[Eteocles]] and [[Polynices]] in regard to the succession. In ''Oedipus at Colonus'', Sophocles attempts to work these inconsistencies into a coherent whole: Ismene explains that, in light of their tainted family lineage, her brothers were at first willing to cede the throne to Creon. Nevertheless, they eventually decided to take charge of the monarchy, with each brother disputing the other's right to succeed. In addition to being in a clearly more powerful position in ''Oedipus at Colonus'', Eteocles and Polynices are also culpable: they consent (l. 429, Theodoridis, tr.) to their father's going to exile, which is one of his bitterest charges against them.<ref name="Grene pp. 1–2"/>