Comparing Oedipus The King And Sophocles Antigone

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Oedipus the King was written by Sophocles as part of the Theban Plays. It is believed that Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King around 430 B.C. Sophocles himself lived ninety years, from 496 to 406 B.C. Each play was written for separate festivals, years apart. Antigone was actually written first, Oedipus the King second, and Oedipus at Colonus last. The time period Sophocles wrote in was the same as the time period in Oedipus, so the details are relevant because they were present in that time. Oedipus the King is about a Theban king who kills his father, the old king, and marries his mother. In the end, Oedipus is exiled and he stabs out his eyes, blinding himself. A main theme in Oedipus is hubris blinds the mind. The first instance of this…show more content…
Oedipus: Do you think you can say such things with impunity? Teiresias: I do- if truth has any power to save. Oedipus: It has- but not for you; no, not for you, shameless and brainless, sightless, senseless sot!” (page 36) This conversation shows how although Teiresias is telling Oedipus the truth, Oedipus just continues to taunt and insult him instead of listening to him. Oedipus is blinded to the truth because of his hubris. Oedipus just flings insults at Teiresias because he is King so he cannot Potter…show more content…
There are three different types, dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal irony. Dramatic irony is when the characters don’t know what is going to happen in the ending, but the audience knows. In Oedipus the King, the chorus tells us the ending, but the characters in the play do not know, and so dramatic irony is used. This irony is built up throughout the entire play.Situational irony applies to characters who do something with an expected ending, but instead something else happens. Oedipus, upon finding out about the murder of Laius, promises to exile the murderer when he is found. He expects this to happen, but instead, he finds out he was the murderer. He was in fact exiled, but that is not what he expected to happen. Another example of situational irony is in the beginning, when Oedipus runs to the city of his parents while trying to escape the prophecy and his parents. He expects to thwart the prophecy and live by free will, but by doing this he actually goes to his parents. These examples are over a broad place in the book as well, and are built up in many pages. Verbal irony is a comment or phrase that has a different meaning than what is appears to mean. In Section 2. Lines 284-285, Oedipus says, “I curse myself as well…if by
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