or. Creon sees him in this light and so seeks to rescind his exile, but Oedipus does not want to return to Thebes. The machinations undertaken by Creon to change his mind do not place Creon or Thebes in a good light but do cast a different light on Oedipus:
Perhaps the most obvious, and certainly the most significant, way in which Sophocles varies the conventions of suppliant drama is his free adaptation of the role of the suppliant. Oedipus has all the misery and helplessness that typify the suppliant's condition, but as the drama unfolds it becomes increasingly apparent that he will not be confined to that role. The central paradox of the play is that the suppliant is destined by be the savior (Burian 78).
Oedipus is described as "Stranger and wanderer" (line 1252) by the Chorus. He is a stranger not because they do not know him but cause he is not of their land, and he will cease to be a wanderer when he becomes one of them. From the first, though, Oedipus is protected by Theseus, who knows of the prophecy and who knows what importance attaches to giving Oedipu
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