The Use of Irony in OedipusRex
To the ancient Greeks, once a person’s fate was prophesized, it was set in stone. Nothing at all could be done to change it. Anyone who attempted to alter her/his fate would do so in vain. Fate would overcome all in the end. A prime example of these twisted circumstances is displayed in the play Oedipus the King, written by Sophecles. Oedipus was ill fated since birth. His parents were told that he would marry his mother Jocasta, and murder his father, Laius. Laius and Jocasta both tried to change their son’s fate. They discovered too late that their effort was meaningless, and their son’s fate destroyed them in the end. When Sophecles wrote this play, he infused it with irony of all types. This was done to better develop his theme of predestination. In Sophecles’ Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, both verbal and dramatic irony are used to better comprehend the twisted circumstances of Oedipus’ fate. Situational irony is used throughout the entire play. It is most prevalent in the scenes between Oedipus and Tiresias, the old blind prophet. One would think that because Oedipus has perfectly good eyes he would be able to see more clearly than Tiresias, who is completely blind. This, however, is not the case. In loo
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1139
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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