Teiresias, a blind prophet, enters led by a young boy to address Creon. Creon asks him for news, and Teiresias demands that before he reveals it Creon must obey him by doing whatever he tells him to do. Creon reminds him that he has always followed his advice. Teiresias then warns him that his luck is once more on Fate's razor edge. "You stand once more on the edge of fate.” Creon encourages him to keep going, and Teiresias reveals that when he was listening to the omens of birds he heard a strange cry. He deduced that two birds were fighting, and one plummeted to its death. Teiresias set up an offering to the Gods in order to understand the prophecy, but rather than receiving confirmation he noticed that slime began to ooze out of the altar and nothing was revealed. What Teiresias was able to learn came from the young boy, his guide. Teiresias tells Creon that he learned that the policies Creon has made in the state have made it sick, and that the Gods will no longer accept their sacrifices. He warns Creon that he has made a serious mistake, and that it's not too late to fix it if Creon will let go of his pride.

Creon dismisses Teiresias' advice, saying that he believes he's become a target. He believes that all the prophets have been bought and sold, and claims that even if Zeus himself commanded it he would not bury Polyneices' body. “Teiresias, it is a sorry thing when a wise man sells his wisdom, lets out his words for hire!” Teiresias reminds Creon that good advice is more valuable than any possession, and that is what he is offering Creon. He then tells Creon that he will be forced to sacrifice his own child in return for the corpses he has caused, and his city will rebel against him. “The time is not far off when you shall pay back corpse for corpse, flesh of your own flesh. You have thrust the child of this world into living night; you have kept from the gods below the child that is theirs: The one in a grave before her death, the other, dead, denied the grave. This is your crime: And the Furies and the dark gods of hell are swift with terrible punishment for you. Do you want to buy me now, Creon? Not many days, and your house will be full of men and women weeping, and curses will be hurled at you from far cities grieving for sons unburied, left to rot before the walls of Thebes. These are my arrows, Creon: they are all for you.”

Teiresias finally leaves, led by the boy, and the Choragus interjects to remind Creon that Teiresias has never uttered a false prophecy. “The old man has gone, King, but his words remain to plague us. I am old, too, but I cannot remember that he was ever false.” Creon admits that is true. However, he refuses to give in to what Teiresias has said. He asks the Choragus for advice, and the Choragus tells him to release Antigone from her tomb before she dies and to give Polyneices a proper burial. He reminds Creon that the Gods act swiftly when they are upset. “And it must be done at once: God moves swiftly to cancel the folly of stubborn men.” Creon agrees to do as the Choragus advises. Creon gathers his servants and declares that he will go to Antigone to free her himself. “Bring axes, servants: Come with me to the tomb. I buried her; I will set her free. The laws of the gods are mighty, and a man must serve them to the last day of his life!”

Teiresias’ prophecy reveals that Divine authority holds the ultimate power. He is physically blind, but spiritually sighted. Teiresias is skilled in the prophecy art of augury (predicting omens by watching the behavior of birds), and what he sees is the birds fighting each other, which symbolizes the imbalance that Creon has created in his kingdom. Teiresias recalls that the birds gave the sounds of evil, unintelligible, angry screaming, which mirrors the arguing and tension that surround Creon. “When suddenly I heard a strange note in their jangling, a scream, a whirring fury; I knew that they were fighting, tearing each other, dying in a whirlwind of wings clashing. And I was afraid. I began the rites of burnt offering at the altar, but Hephaestus failed me!” Teiresias warns Creon, “You yourself have brought this new calamity upon us. Our hearths and altars are stained with the corruption of dogs and carrion birds that glut themselves on the corpse of Oedipus’ son. The gods are deaf when we pray to them; their fire recoils from our offering; their birds of omen have no cry of comfort, for they are gorged with the thick blood of the dead.” There is an insinuation that Creon has polluted Thebes with his strict adherence to laws not only by leaving Polyneices' corpse out but also the Gods have been angered by his actions, leaving the citizens vulnerable.

Teiresias advises Creon “These are no trifles! Think: all men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride. Give in to the dead man, then: do not fight with a corpse— what glory is it to kill a man who is dead? Think, I beg you: It is for your own good that I speak as I do. You should be able to yield for your own good.” Instead of listening to his warnings, Creon hurls insults at Teiresias, accusing him of being money hungry and dishonest. With that, his fate suddenly seems to harden since Teiresias then offers him a new and darker prophecy about losing his son and seeing his city rebelling against him. This warning has a profound effect on Creon, who now for the first time asks for advice, from none other than the Choragus. He seems to believe that he still has time to change the course of fate if he takes swift action to reverse what he's done. Even though Teiresias doesn't mention Antigone or Polyneices by name, he suggests that the Gods have been paying attention to what has transpired, and that even though they have not come to Antigone's rescue they believe that her actions were just. Conversely, they have been offended by Creon's actions and so they will punish his son as revenge. In this prophecy, Antigone emerges victorious, despite all her suffering.

Before Antigone was taken away to die, she cried out: “What law of the mighty gods have I transgressed?” Faced with death for upholding divine law, Antigone might have expected a miraculous rescue, proof of the Gods' protection. Instead, she leaves the city feeling utterly abandoned by the Gods. In this scene, the blind prophet Teiresias makes clear that the Gods are not indifferent to Antigone although her name is never mentioned. While the Gods do not intercede for Antigone directly, Teiresias’ ritual augury reveals that her cause — the burial of her brother — is just. The Gods, offended by Creon's refusal to bury Polyneices, threaten the life of his own son. Given this prophetic warning, the pious response would be to bury Polyneices immediately, and — although this is never mentioned — free the woman who upheld the law of the Gods. The moral victory, muted as it is, goes to Antigone. Antigone wins a moral victory at the expense of her life, which is the only source of morality. Symbolically, she wins at the expense of life itself as a human order. For, as promised bride, she will end her unfortunate family instead of beginning another and the people win only as losers: they survive.

As in Antigone, the entrance of Teiresias signals a crucial turning point in the plot. But in Oedipus the King, Teiresias also serves an additional role—his blindness augments the dramatic irony that governs the play. Tiresias is blind but can see the truth; Oedipus has his sight but cannot. Teiresias tells Oedipus that Oedipus himself is the curse. When Oedipus, King of Thebes, discovered that he had killed his father and married his mother, Jocasta, he put out his own eyes, and Jocasta killed herself, thus Creon became the King of Thebes. As in Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus, Teiresias' prophetic truth meets with anger and rejection. Like Oedipus, Creon refuses to believe Teiresias' warning because it contradicts his own sense of responsibility and moral scruples. Like Oedipus, Creon also accuses Teiresias of lying and of using his prophetic power for personal advantage. But unlike Oedipus, Creon proves himself open to persuasion as he suddenly yields to the prophet's advice and rushes off — too late — to bury Polyneices and free Antigone. Creon is stubborn and reluctant to back down from his laws. He has to look like a strong, unyielding leader, which is a problem. A strong leader would also be able to recognize his faults, but not Creon. Teiresias’ prophecy is the peripeteia, which shows that Creon is doomed and cannot escape his fate. Creon finally realizes that his hubris has not let him effectively deal with his conflicts. Creon has his epiphany and finally acknowledges that he has let his pride take over for the worse. Note the paradox of Teiresias' explanation of the Gods' fateful justice — a corpse for a corpse — and his summary of Creon's crime: keeping a dead body above ground and placing a living body beneath it. This outrage against the natural order of things springs from Creon's pride and offends the majesty of the Gods deeply.

A Paean is a hymn that is an appeal to the Gods for assistance. In this paean, the chorus praises Dionysus, or Iacchus, and calls on him to come to Thebes to show mercy and drive out evil. In the Paean, the elders rejoice to Dionysus at Creon's decision. The Chorus calls upon Dionysus to heal and protect their city, whose citizens dance all night in his honor.

The Chorus is relieved that Creon has reversed course, and they sing their joy in an ode to the God Dionysus, who rules both their city and their revelry. Their excitement reflects the way that worshipers of Dionysus would work themselves into states of frenzy. Their reference to Eleusis and the Mysteries—a secret rite that promised a vision of what eternal life looked like—is also meant as a hope that Antigone will be rescued from her fate. Sophocles refers to the Eleusian Mysteries throughout Oedipus at Colonus, foreshadowing the tragic hero's mystical passing. Here, the reference offers a hope for Antigone's recovery from her sealed tomb, just as the Goddess Persephone escaped from the Underworld. Of course, this being a tragedy, the audience knows that more sacrifice is to come and that it is too soon to give thanks and celebrate. The ecstasy of the chorus imitates the frenzy of Dionysian worship. Exultation wells up at this pivotal moment in the play as Creon at last yields and seeks to repair the damage his pride has caused.

“I began the rites of burnt offering at the altar, But Hephaestus failed me: instead of bright flame, There was only the sputtering slime of the fat thigh-flesh Melting: the entrails dissolved in grey smoke; The bare bone burst from the welter. And no blaze!” --Teiresias, Scene V

A capital of ancient Lydia, where metal coins were first produced. “Go into business, make money, speculate In India gold or that synthetic gold from Sardis, Get rich otherwise than by my consent to bury him. Teiresias, it is a sorry thing when a wise man Sells his wisdom, lets out his words for hire!” --Creon, Scene V

The Roman Goddess of Vengeance. They are equivalent to the Greek Erinyes. The Furies, who are usually characterized as three sisters (Alekto, Tisiphone, and Megaira) are the children of Gaia and Uranus. They resulted from a drop of Uranus' blood falling onto the earth. They were placed in the Underworld by Virgil and it is there that they reside, tormenting evildoers and sinners. However, Greek poets saw them as pursuing sinners on Earth. The Furies are cruel, but are also renowned for being very fair. “Then take this, and take it to heart! The time is not far off when you shall pay back corpse for corpse, flesh of your own flesh. You have thrust the child of this world into living night; you have kept from the Gods below the child that is theirs: The one in a grave before her death, the other, dead, denied the grave. This is your crime: And the Furies and the dark Gods of hell are swift with terrible punishment for you. Do you want to buy me now, Creon?” --Teiresias, Scene V

O Iacchus son of Cadmean Semele

O born of the thunder! Guardian of the West regent of Eleusis’ plain

O prince of maenad Thebes and the Dragon Field by rippling Ismenus:

The flame of torches flares on our hills

The nymphs of Iacchus dance at the spring of Castalia:

From the vine-close mountain

Come ah come in ivy:

Evohé evohé! Sings through the streets of Thebes

Iacchus of Thebes

Heavenly child of Semele bride of the Thunderer!

The shadow of plague is upon us:

Come with clement feet

Oh come from Parnassus down the long slopes across the lamenting water

Come with choric rapture of circling Maenads who cry Io Iacche!

God of many names!

--The Chorus, Paean

The legendary founder of Thebes. Dionysus is the son of Cadmus’ daughter Semele and Zeus, who is referred to here as thunder.

The daughter of Cadmus and the mother of Dionysus.

A town in Greece, northwest of Athens; site of an ancient Greek city, seat of the Eleusian Mysteries.

The Eleusian Mysteries, the secret religious rites celebrated at the ancient Greek city of Eleusis in honor of Demeter and Persephone.

A river of Thebes.

A spring on Mount Parnassus, Greece; in ancient times it was sacred to the Muses and was considered a source of poetic inspiration to all who bathed in it.

A priestess of Dionysus.