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The aged citizens of Colonus, who form the Chorus, now enter, in a fever of indignation that any stranger should have ventured to set foot within the holy grove of the "Virgin Goddesses;" and at last Œdipus, taught by his adversity not to "war with fate" or to offend pious scruples, allows Antigone to lead him from the precinct. The Chorus, with an undignified curiosity which contrasts with the simple yet refined courtesy of the Homeric times, ask a string of questions as to the stranger's name and birth. When Œdipus reluctantly confesses that he is "the son of Laius," they bid him instantly depart from their coasts, lest he bring the same pollution upon Attica which he had brought on Thebes; and not even the piteous entreaties of Antigone can prevail on them to change this decision.