How Does Sophocles Use Dramatic Irony In Oedipus The King

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In the text Oedipus the King, Sophocles puts so much trust into his senses like hear, touch, smell, taste and sight to represent the three types of irony, but mainly sight. Considering the major motif in Oedipus the King was vision, sight, and blindness. Sophocles’ use of irony is purposely interpreted to show Oedipus’s hamartia because throughout Oedipus the King there are many examples of verbal, dramatic and situational irony, which lead to the downfall of Oedipus. Sophocles uses dramatic irony in the story of Oedipus the King to seek tension because the audience knows something that the characters don’t. For example, when Oedipus attempts to escape his destiny because of the prophecy that Tiresias had revealed to him that said, “Blind instead of seeing, beggar instead of rich, he will make his way to foreign soil, feeling his way with a stick. He will be revealed as a brother and a father of the children with…show more content…
Especially in verbal irony when Oedipus is constantly making fun Tiresias because he’s blind. “It has except for you. You have no power or truth. You are blind, your ears and mind as well as eyes.” Oedipus insults Tiresias yet Tiresias isn’t really overwhelmed by his comment because he knows that sooner or later he’s going to regret it. Which is ironic because Tiresias knows more than Oedipus when Oedipus can actually see but Tiresias can’t, “your eyes, which now see life, will then see darkness.” Also since Tiresias was the one who had told Oedipus about the prophecy, Tiresias was the one who actually “saw” what Oedipus had done and who he was, but throughout the story Oedipus never really saw what Tiresias was trying to tell him, “Since you have thrown my blindness at me I will tell you what your eyes don’t see what evil you are stepped in.” or the clues that were right in front of him until he became blind and seen that everything Tiresias had told him was the

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