Oedipus The King
...tragedy Oedipus Tyrannos'. He presents the audience with an intense drama that addresses the reality and importance of the gods that the Greeks fervently believed in. "Sophocles holds that for mortals, modesty is the safest and most decent frame of mind. His gods will not abide our question" (Sheppard, 46). The play also forces the audience to ask themselves if there is such a concept as fate. What Oedipus does, what he says, and even who he is can sometimes be ironic. This irony can help us to see the character of Oedipus as truly a 'blind' man, or a wholly 'public' man.
From the very beginning of Oedipus, it is made clear "that his destiny be one of fate and worse." "His religious scruples, his obedience to the oracle, his patriotic energy, destroy him." (Sheppard, 69) The irony is that Oedipus unknowingly and repeatedly predicts his own fate: "It was I who called down these curses on that man" (Sophocles, 8). Oedipus unconsciously married his mother and killed his father, just as the Oracle predicted. Fate is proven to be unavoidable to Oedipus as the play shows a devout belief in the Greek gods. The gods are shown to have power over everything and everyone, and whoever ignores them will be cursed by the "darts no one escapes". Oedipus is someone who is seen to have ignored the Gods' warnings and therefore has brought a curse upon himself. Does Oedipus deserve his pitiful destiny and if it was so pre-decided, then why? It was yet again the God's powers.
One of the dramatic devices used in this play is Sophoclean Irony. Sophoclean Irony can be divided into two terms: unconscious and conscious irony. Unconscious irony occurs when a character speaks what he believes is the truth, but the audience (fore-armed with knowledge of the truth) knows that it is not. Conscious irony is evident when a character knows the truth but is reluctant to reveal it:...
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