Sophocles' Tragic Story in "OedipusThe King"

Certainly, there is much mockery in Oedipus' statdment because in substantiveity, he is the very reason for the tincture that has befallen his pile (Segal 56). Thus, it truly does "fall" on him, though he does not understand this when the play begins.

However, Sophocles imbues these opening scenes with even more(prenominal) dramatic irony. Oedipus takes the problem quite personally, as he vows, "Who'er it was that piling/Laius, the same wild hand may invitek me in addition:/And caring thus for Laius, is but care/For mine ingest blooda" (12). The irony here is obvious: Oedipus has pledged to seek away whoever it was that killed Laius, with the same vigor that he would if it were a member of his family that he was avenging. Firstly, Oedipus has ultimately promised to destroy himself, since it was he who murdered Laius at the three-party crossroads. He goes so far as to tell the people of Thebes:

By what man's hand died Laius, your force,

Labdacus' son, I charge him that he bring

To me his knowledge. let him feel no veneration

If on a townsman's body he must clear

In essence, Oedipus has given his subject permission to embarrass him in Laius' murder. The fact that he is responsible for the murder is simply the crux of the play's tragedy, as Oedipus fulfills his promise to uncover the killer's identity, and destroys himself in the transit as a result of his own arrogance and refusal to see the truth (Winnington-Ingram 191). In add

Indeed, condescension the characters' passionate attempts to avoid the fate that the Gods beget designed for them, they dumbfound only wound up fulfilling the prophecies of the Oracle. One might contend that their attempts to thwart fate have only made matters worsened for Oedipus, Laius, and Jacosta. There is the irony in Sophocles' play, as well as its deep tragedy.

Apollo of his will. My child could slay

Ye oracles of God?

For many a year

Indeed, before Oedipus came to Thebes and took the throne, he lived in Corinth, where he was prince. One evening, at a royal banquet, he overheard gossip which claimed that he was not the real son of the King and Queen, Polybus and Merope. Troubled by this intelligence agency, Oedipus traveled to the Nracle at Delphi in order to learn the truth. The Oracle did not permit any information about his parentage, but informed Oedipus that he would eventually murder his father and sleep with his mother. It was this horrifying news that caused Oedipus to flee Corinth, and began the journey that would eventually lead him to become King of Thebes, as he tells Jocasta, his wife and mother, that he "afled, fled from the dark siemens where Corinth lay,/To lands far off, where never I might see/My designate of scorn fulfilled" (56). Once more, Sophocles utilizes dramatic irony, as the reference realizes that instead of escaping his destiny, Oedipus has only run headfirst into the fate that the Gods have set forth for him (Winnington-Ingram 187).

To slay him. And behold we find him thus

The fear that dogged him, by his child to die

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