The story begins with Oedipus' arrival at Thebes as a stranger. He comes to find the town under the curse of a sphinx that will only free the city if her riddle is answered correctly. Oedipus answers the sphinx riddle correctly, freeing the city and because the original emperor was recently murdered, he gains the crown and the empress of Thebes. Years later, Oedipus comes to find out that he is not only a Theban, but also the son of the emperor. He had been ordered to death by the emperor because of a prophecy that he would murder his father and wed his mother. Through an act of kindness his life was spared and when and oracle told Oedipus of the prophecy he left what he thought was his home and parents vowing to never return again. On his way to Thebes he runs into a caravan and after a heated discussion he becomes infuriated and murders the entire caravan. He relates this to the death of the orig

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Sophocles used a literary device called dramatic irony. Without this literary device, Sophocles would not have been able to maintain the audience's interest since the conclusion and the events leading up to it were obvious to everyone. To bypass this difficulty, Sophocles saturates his play in dramatic irony, riveting the audience with the awareness that they know more than Oedipus, letting them cringe with the delicious knowledge of the misfortunes he will face. Sophocles employs the blindness of Oedipus to such advantage that he creates an atmosphere similar to the modern horror film, in which the audience knows the inevitable fate of the character but is too pleased with the horror to forgo the journey. With this literary device Sophocles was able to show how Oedipus although capable of seeing with his own two eyes, he is blind to the truth.

Sophocles wrote his tragedy Oedipus the King, he based it on the well-known story of Oedipus, which the Greek already knew and loved. Sophocles concentrated on the events directly leading to Oedipus' destruction, portraying Oedipus as a helpless pawn of fate.

Oedipus remains blind to the truth until he can deny it no longer. After hearing the testimony of the herdsman it is perfectly clear to Oedipus at last that he has fulfilled the prophecy and has caused the great suffering and misfortune of Thebes. Upon discovering this he goes to Jocasta who had overheard what was told and had killed herself. He removes the long gold pins holding he

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1056
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)