summary and analysis of Oedipus Rex lines (1311–1684)

 Summary and analysis of Oedipus Rex lines (1311–1684)

Summary

The Chorus enters and cries that even Oedipus, greatest of men, was brought low by destiny, for he unknowingly murdered his father and married his mother. The messenger enters again to tell the Chorus what has happened in the palace. Jocasta is dead, by suicide. She locked herself in her bedroom, crying for Laius and weeping for her monstrous fate. Oedipus came to the door in a fury, asking for a sword and cursing Jocasta. He finally hurled himself at the bedroom door and burst through it, where he saw Jocasta hanging from a noose. Seeing this, Oedipus sobbed and embraced Jocasta. He then took the gold pins that held her robes and, with them, stabbed out his eyes. He kept raking the pins down his eyes, crying that he could not bear to see the world now that he had learned the truth.

Just as the messenger finishes the story, Oedipus emerges from the palace. With blood streaming from his blind eyes, he fumes and rants at his fate, and at the infinite darkness that embraces him. He claims that though Apollo ordained his destiny, it was he alone who pierced his own eyes. He asks that he be banished from Thebes. The Chorus shrinks away from Oedipus as he curses his birth, his marriage, his life, and in turn all births, marriages, and lives.

Creon enters, and the Chorus expresses hope that he can restore order. Creon forgives Oedipus for his past accusations of treason and asks that Oedipus be sent inside so that the public display of shame might stop. Creon agrees to exile Oedipus from the city, but tells him that he will only do so if every detail is approved by the gods. Oedipus embraces the hope of exile, since he believes that, for some reason, the gods want to keep him alive. He says that his two sons are men and can take care of themselves, but asks that Creon take care of his girls, whom he would like to see one final time.
The girls, Antigone and Ismene, come forth, crying. Oedipus embraces them and says he weeps for them, since they will be excluded from society, and no man will want to marry the offspring of an incestuous marriage. He turns to Creon and asks him to promise that he will take care of them. He reaches out to Creon, but Creon will not touch his hand. Oedipus asks his daughters to pray that they may have a better life than his. Creon then puts an end to the farewell, saying that Oedipus has wept shamefully long enough. Creon orders the guards to take Antigone and Ismene away from Oedipus, and tells Oedipus that his power has ended. Everyone exits, and the Chorus comes onstage once more. Oedipus, greatest of men, has fallen, they say, and so all life is miserable, and only death can bring peace.

Analysis

The speech of the Chorus, with which this section begins (1311–1350), turns the images of the plowman and ship’s captain, which formerly stood for Oedipus’s success and ability to manage the state, into images of his failure. And the way in which it does so is quite extreme, focusing particularly on the sexual aspect of Oedipus’s actions. Oedipus and his father have, like two ships in one port, shared the same “wide harbor,” and Oedipus has plowed the same “furrows” his father plowed (1334–1339). The harbor image ostensibly refers to Jocasta’s bedchamber, but both images also quite obviously refer to the other space Oedipus and his father have shared: Jocasta’s vagina.
Images of earth and soil continue throughout the scene, most noticeably in one of Oedipus’s final speeches, in which he talks to his children about what he has done (see 1621–1661). These images of earth, soil, and plowing are used to suggest the metaphor of the sturdy plowman tilling the soil of the state, but they also suggest the image of the soil drinking the blood of the family members Oedipus has killed (see in particular 1531–1537). Oedipus’s crimes are presented as a kind of blight on the land, a plague—symbolized by the plague with which the play begins—that infects the earth on which Oedipus, his family, and his citizens stand, and in which all are buried as a result of Oedipus’s violence.After we learn of Oedipus’s self-inflicted blinding, Oedipus enters, led by a boy (1432)—a clear visual echo of the Tiresias’s entrance at line 337. Oedipus has become like the blind prophet whose words he scorned. Unable to see physically, he is now possessed of an insight, or an inner sight, that is all too piercing and revealing. Though the Chorus is fascinated with the amount of physical pain Oedipus must be in after performing such an act, Oedipus makes no mention of physical pain. Like Tiresias, he has left the concerns of the physical world behind to focus on the psychological torment that accompanies contemplation of the truth.

Once the mystery of Laius’s murder has been solved, Creon quickly transfers the power to himself. Even in his newfound humbleness, Oedipus still clings to some trappings of leadership, the most pathetic example being his command to Creon to bury Jocasta as he sees fit. Oedipus finds it difficult to leave the role of commander, which is why he tries to preempt Creon’s power by asking Creon to banish him. Creon, however, knows that Oedipus no longer has any real control. Creon is brusque and just as efficient a leader as Oedipus was at the beginning of the play. Just as Oedipus anticipated the Chorus’s demand for a consultation with the oracle in the first scene, so Creon has anticipated Oedipus’s request for banishment now: when Oedipus requests banishment, Creon says that he’s already consulted “the god” about it (1574). Creon has also anticipated Oedipus’s desire to see his daughters, and has them brought onstage and taken away again.
Mostly because he is contrasted with Creon, Oedipus becomes a tragic figure rather than a monster in the play’s final moments. Though throughout the play Oedipus has behaved willfully and proudly, he has also been earnest and forthright in all of his actions. We trust Oedipus’s judgment because he always seems to mean what he says and to try to do what he believes is right. His punishment of blindness and exile seems just, therefore, because he inflicted it upon himself. Creon, on the other hand, has the outward trappings of Oedipus’s candid, frank nature, but none of its substance. “I try to say what I mean; it’s my habit,” Creon tells Oedipus in the play’s final lines, but the audience perceives this to be untrue (1671). Creon’s earlier protestations that he lacked the desire for power are proved completely false by his eagerness to take Oedipus’s place as king, and by the cutting ferocity with which he silences Oedipus at the end of the play. At the end of the play, one kind of pride has merely replaced another, and all men, as the Chorus goes on to say, are destined to be miserable.

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Oedipus Rex ,summary line 338 to 706

Oedipus Rex ,summary line 338 to 706

Summary

A boy leads in the blind prophet Tiresias. Oedipus begs him to reveal who Laius’s murderer is, but Tiresias answers only that he knows the truth but wishes he did not. Puzzled at first, then angry, Oedipus insists that Tiresias tell Thebes what he knows. Provoked by the anger and insults of Oedipus, Tiresias begins to hint at his knowledge. Finally, when Oedipus furiously accuses Tiresias of the murder, Tiresias tells Oedipus that Oedipus himself is the curse. Oedipus dares Tiresias to say it again, and so Tiresias calls Oedipus the murderer. The king criticizes Tiresias’s powers wildly and insults his blindness, but Tiresias only responds that the insults will eventually be turned on Oedipus by all of Thebes. Driven into a fury by the accusation, Oedipus proceeds to concoct a story that Creon and Tiresias are conspiring to overthrow him.
The leader of the Chorus asks Oedipus to calm down, but Tiresias only taunts Oedipus further, saying that the king does not even know who his parents are. This statement both infuriates and intrigues Oedipus, who asks for the truth of his parentage. Tiresias answers only in riddles, saying that the murderer of Laius will turn out to be both brother and father to his children, both son and husband to his mother. The characters exit and the Chorus takes the stage, confused and unsure whom to believe. They resolve that they will not believe any of these accusations against Oedipus unless they are shown proof.
Creon enters, soon followed by Oedipus. Oedipus accuses Creon of trying to overthrow him, since it was he who recommended that Tiresias come. Creon asks Oedipus to be rational, but Oedipus says that he wants Creon murdered. Both Creon and the leader of the Chorus try to get Oedipus to understand that he’s concocting fantasies, but Oedipus is resolute in his conclusions and his fury.

Analysis

As in Antigone, the entrance of Tiresias signals a crucial turning point in the plot. But in Oedipus the King, Tiresias also serves an additional role—his blindness augments the dramatic irony that governs the play. Tiresias is blind but can see the truth; Oedipus has his sight but cannot. Oedipus claims that he longs to know the truth; Tiresias says that seeing the truth only brings one pain. In addition to this unspoken irony, the conversation between Tiresias and Oedipus is filled with references to sight and eyes. As Oedipus grows angrier, he taunts Tiresias for his blindness, confusing physical sight and insight, or knowledge. Tiresias matches Oedipus insult for insult, mocking Oedipus for his eyesight and for the brilliance that once allowed him to solve the riddle of the Sphinx—neither quality is now helping Oedipus to see the truth.
In this section, the characteristic swiftness of Oedipus’s thought, words, and action begins to work against him. When Tiresias arrives at line 340, Oedipus praises him as an all-powerful seer who has shielded Thebes from many a plague. Only forty lines later, he refers to Tiresias as “scum,” and soon after that accuses him of treason. Oedipus sizes up a situation, makes a judgment, and acts—all in an instant. While this confident expedience was laudable in the first section, it is exaggerated to a point of near absurdity in the second. Oedipus asks Tiresias and Creon a great many questions—questions are his typical mode of address and frequently a sign of his quick and intelligent mind—but they are merely rhetorical, for they accuse and presume rather than seek answers. Though Tiresias has laid the truth out plainly before Oedipus, the only way Oedipus can interpret the prophet’s words is as an attack, and his quest for information only seeks to confirm what he already believes.
The Chorus seems terrified and helpless in this section, and its speech at lines 526–572 is fraught with uncertainty and anxiety. Though, like Oedipus, the Chorus cannot believe the truth of what Tiresias has said, the Chorus does not believe itself to be untouchable as Oedipus does, consisting as it does of the plague-stricken, innocent citizens of Thebes. The Chorus’s speech is full of images of caves, darkness, lightning, and wings, which suggest darkness, the unknown, and, most significantly, terror striking from the skies. The Chorus’s supplications to the benevolent gods of lines 168–244 are long past. The gods are still present in this speech, but they are no longer of any help, because they know truths that they will not reveal. Thebes is menaced rather than protected by the heavens.

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Oedipus rex chapter wise summary and analysis

Oedipus Rex, lines 1–337

Summary

Oedipus steps out of the royal palace of Thebes and is greeted by a procession of priests, who are in turn surrounded by the impoverished and sorrowful citizens of Thebes. The citizens carry branches wrapped in wool, which they offer to the gods as gifts. Thebes has been struck by a plague, the citizens are dying, and no one knows how to put an end to it. Oedipus asks a priest why the citizens have gathered around the palace. The priest responds that the city is dying and asks the king to save Thebes. Oedipus replies that he sees and understands the terrible fate of Thebes, and that no one is more sorrowful than he. He has sent Creon, his brother-in-law and fellow ruler, to the Delphic oracle to find out how to stop the plague. Just then, Creon arrives, and Oedipus asks what the oracle has said. Creon asks Oedipus if he wants to hear the news in private, but Oedipus insists that all the citizens hear. Creon then tells what he has learned from the god Apollo, who spoke through the oracle: the murderer of Laius, who ruled Thebes before Oedipus, is in Thebes. He must be driven out in order for the plague to end.

Creon goes on to tell the story of Laius’s murder. On their way to consult an oracle, Laius and all but one of his fellow travelers were killed by thieves. Oedipus asks why the Thebans made no attempt to find the murderers, and Creon reminds him that Thebes was then more concerned with the curse of the Sphinx. Hearing this, Oedipus resolves to solve the mystery of Laius’s murder.

The Chorus enters, calling on the gods Apollo, Athena, and Artemis to save Thebes. Apparently, it has not heard Creon’s news about Laius’s murderer. It bemoans the state of Thebes, and finally invokes Dionysus, whose mother was a Theban. Oedipus returns and tells the Chorus that he will end the plague himself. He asks if anyone knows who killed Laius, promising that the informant will be rewarded and the murderer will receive no harsher punishment than exile. No one responds, and Oedipus furiously curses Laius’s murderer and anyone who is protecting him. Oedipus curses himself, proclaiming that should he discover the murderer to be a member of his own family, that person should be struck by the same exile and harsh treatment that he has just wished on the murderer. Oedipus castigates the citizens of Thebes for letting the murderer go unknown so long. The Leader of the Chorus suggests that Oedipus call for Tiresias, a great prophet, and Oedipus responds that he has already done so.

Analysis

Oedipus is notable for his compassion, his sense of justice, his swiftness of thought and action, and his candor. At this early stage in the play, Oedipus represents all that an Athenian audience—or indeed any audience—could desire in a citizen or a leader. In his first speech, which he delivers to an old priest whose suffering he seeks to alleviate, he continually voices his concern for the health and well-being of his people. He insists upon allowing all his people to hear what the oracle has said, despite Creon’s suggestion that Oedipus hear the news in private. When Creon retells the story of Laius’s murder, Oedipus is shocked and dismayed that the investigation of the murder of a king was so swiftly dropped (145–147). Oedipus quickly hatches plans to deal with both his people’s suffering and Laius’s unsolved murder, and he has even anticipated the Chorus’s suggestions that he send someone to the oracle and call forth Tiresias. Finally, Oedipus is vehement in his promises of dire punishment for Laius’s murderer, even if the murderer turns out to be someone close to Oedipus himself.
Sophocles’ audience knew the ancient story of Oedipus well, and would therefore interpret the greatness Oedipus exudes in the first scene as a tragic harbinger of his fall. Sophocles seizes every opportunity to exploit this dramatic irony. Oedipus frequently alludes to sight and blindness, creating many moments of dramatic irony, since the audience knows that it is Oedipus’s metaphorical blindness to the relationship between his past and his present situation that brings about his ruin. For example, when the old priest tells Oedipus that the people of Thebes are dying of the plague, Oedipus says that he could not fail to see this (68–72). Oedipus eagerly attempts to uncover the truth, acting decisively and scrupulously refusing to shield himself from the truth. Although we are able to see him as a mere puppet of fate, at some points, the irony is so magnified that it seems almost as if Oedipus brings catastrophe upon himself willingly. One such instance of this irony is when Oedipus proclaims proudly—but, for the audience, painfully—that he possesses the bed of the former king, and that marriage might have even created “blood-bonds” between him and Laius had Laius not been murdered (294–300).
Although the Chorus’s first ode (168–244) piously calls to the gods to save Thebes from the plague, the answer they get to their prayer arrives in human form. Immediately following the ode, Oedipus enters and says that he will answer the Chorus’s prayers. For a moment, Oedipus takes upon himself the role of a god—a role the Chorus has been both reluctant and eager to allow him (see 39–43). Oedipus is so competent in the affairs of men that he comes close to dismissing the gods, although he does not actually blaspheme, as Creon does in Antigone. At this early moment, we see Oedipus’s dangerous pride, which explains his willful blindness and, to a certain extent, justifies his downfall.

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What is the Role of Chorus in Oedipus Rex???

What is the Role of Chorus in Oedipus Rex???

Greek tragedy is said to develop itself from the group of dancers and singers who used to partake in the worship of various gods. According to Aristotle the Chorus should be like one of the characters. Gradually the role of the Chorus became less and less important in classical tragedy, until in Roman tragedy the speeches of the Chorus were supposed to be made in between the acts.

Chorus discharges some broad functions in all classical tragedies. The structure of a Greek tragedy is determined by the Chorus. After the prologue, it is with the entry of the Chorus that a Greek tragedy begins. Various episodes are also marked off by choric odes. The conclusion of a Greek tragedy occurs with the exode or the exit song of the Chorus. It is the function of the Chorus to comment on actions and events. It also sometimes questions the characters. Its standard role is that of the moderator. At times it represents the view-point of the common spectator and in some cases it represents the view-point of the dramatist himself.

The functions of the Chorus are very well performed in Oedipus Rex.In this play the group of chorus (group) consist of twelve or fifteen elders of Thebes . This group is not intended to represent literally all of the citizen . According to Aristotle

“ A Sophoclean chorus is a character that takes an important role in the play”        

In “ Oedipus Rex” , the chorus acts as a character. There are many important uses of chorus . He can expand the past, comment on present and forbade the future. The chorus serves as a link between characters  and the audience. He expresses the feelings of audience . He plays the role of mediator, peace maker critic, expositor and commentator . While talking to other characters on stage, it has one role, while singing in choral odes, it plays another role. The chorus questions the characters  which rises in the minds of audience, so he is the representative of audience. Sometimes he presents the view-point of  the writer. He presents the summary of situation through his songs. He presents the under-lying massages, moral  lessons and philosophies of the play. He reveals the theater of human life. The choral odes have great importance in the play as the play is controlled by choral odes.

1).The first ode is called Parados which is sung after the prologue portion of the play. The opening song of chorus reveals the situation of Thebes. First he shows love for land and religion . He calls all the gods for help. He prays to gods for the protection of Thebes, from the destruction as he sings:

“There are no swords in this attack by fire,

No shield , but we are singed with cries.’’

This song is sung by chorus in an optimistic  tone.

2).The first ode and second song comes after the Teiresias , Oedipus episode. Here chorus is a victim of confusion as he has love for religion and love for king as well. The readers can observe that he is in conflict.

“But now a wilder thing is heard

From the old man skilled at hearing fate in wing beat of a bird….”

He concludes the song with a prayer. .

“Prove his heroic mind! These evil words are lie.”

It means that his love for king is more dominant as the king is man of qualities and status.

3).The second ode and third song is sung when Oedipus and Jocasta show irreverencey  towards Prophecies. He feels the blasphemic attitude of Jocasta and Oedipus , so he says:

“Let me be reverent in the ways of right.

Lowly the paths I journey on,

Let all my words and actions keep

The low of the pure universe

From highest Heaven handed down…”

He praises gods and then preaches the religious philosophy. He ridicules the blaspheme by saying that:

“The tyrant is a chief of pride

 who drinks from his  great sickening cup

Recklessness and vanity.”

Chorus condemns Jocasta and Oedipus for disgracing the oracles . He is still loyal to Oedipus but he is unhappy condemnation of prophecy by Jocasta and Oedipus . the mood of chorus in this song is somewhat curious. Chorus had an expression lamanation in this ode.

4).The third ode and fourth song is sung by chorus after the exit of Jocasta . When Oedipus comes to know that he was thrown by his parents to die, Jocasta judges the whole matter. Inspite of all his efforts she can not stop Oedipus from his Investigation . Chorus feels very happy and shows his  gratitude the mountains of Cithairon, He directly addresses the mountain and sings:

“O mountain guard of a noble race!

May the god who heals us land his aid,

And let that glory come to pass

For our king’s cradling –ground”

Then he thanks god to protect Oedipus:

“ Of the nymphs that flowers beyond the years

Who bore you , royal child.”

The chorus feels that gods protect Oedipus through Cithairon which is the evidence of his divinity . This song is full of expectations. Chorus has best wishes for Oedipus .

5).The forth ode and fifth song comes after the discovery of Oedipus’ self identification. Oedipus condemns his birth , his marriage and his act of killing his father. In this song chorus comments on Oedipus’ tragic fall and says:

“Alas for seed of men

What  measure shell I give these generations

That breath on the void and are void.

And exit and do not exit?”

In these lines he preaches the philosophy of nothingness of man . He also discusses the role of fate in the tragic fall of Oedipus.

“That mind was a strong bow.

Deep,, how deep you drew it then hard archer,

At the dim fearful range,

And brought dear glory down! ”

 In these lines he complaints the fate . He also shows love for king in this ode and gives him titles:

:Fortress against our sorrow

Divine king, giver of laws

Majestic Oedipus! ”

In this song chorus shares the feelings of audience and readers. He feels pity and fear in this situation as he says:

“That with my wailing lips I take to cry

For I weep the words outcast.

I was blind , and now I can tell why:

Asleep for you had given ease of breath…”

6). He sings the exode song after the death of Jocasta and blinding of Oedipus. In this last song he first tells about the past status of Oedipus , then he describes his present status:

“Yet in the end ruin swept over him”

He also gives a moral lesson in this song that no one should be declared a fortunate till the last day of one’s life.

The play begins with the entry of Oedipus and ends with the philosophy and moral lesson presented by chorus.

The various songs of chorus tells the readers and audience about the changing situations . He sings in such a style. He sometimes sings about the situation of Thebes. Sometimes he makes prayer,  sometimes he makes wishes, sometimes expresses joy and grief and sometimes preaches philosophy and moral lessons.

The chorus also takes part in the development of plot. He plays a very important role when he settles the matter between Oedipus and Creon, by saying:

“This is well said and a prudent man would ponder it

Judgments too quickly formed are dangerous.”

These lines show his wisdom and status that he can point out even the king. Oedipus discusses his political and personal matters in the presence of chorus which shows that he trusts him. His dialogues are very powerful in the play. When the messenger of Corinth  asks him about Oedipus he say:

“It is very place stranger, he is inside .

this is his wife and mother of his children.”

He is also representative of audience . He has the same questions and feelings in his mind and heart which rises in the hearts and minds of audience. He expresses his disappointment that oracle had not mentioned the name of Laious’ murderer. In this way he represents audience. He shares the feelings of pity and fear of readers and audience. He feels pity and fear of readers and audience. He feels pity on the tragic fall of the king and says:

“ Is he in agony still? Is there no rest for him?”

Chorus represents audience again when he shows his worry over Jocasta’ departure in a very dejected mood. He says:

“ I fear this silence: something

Dreadful may come of it.”

He plays the role of mediator when he convinces Oedipus that Creon is a sincere friend. He says:

“ A friend so sworn should not be baited so

 In blind malice, and without final proof.”

He is also the representative of writers . He preaches writer’s philosophy that gods are supreme. He also gives philosophy about the existence of man. As he says:

“Let every man in mankind’s frailty

Consider his last day, and let none

Presume on his good fortune until he find

Life at his death a memory without pain. ”

In this way he presents the ideas, themes, philosophy and moral lessons of Sophocles .

In short , it is clear that chorus is a very powerful character. He is the most composed character of the play. He can judge the situations batter than all other characters because he is not a part of any tragic happening of the play. The contribution of chorus makes the play universal, otherwise it would on individual level.                                            

 

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Oedipus Rex : Irony in oedipus rex

                               Explain the major ironies in Oedipus Rex and explain how irony emerges at each twist of the unfolding plot?"

Irony is the best method for exposing good and bad points of the characters.It consists essentially in the contrast of the two aspects of the same remarks or situation.In "Oedipus Rex" we find irony of different types i.e Irony of dialogue, irony of situation, irony of fate and irony of place. Beside it, we also find dramatic irony as well as tragic irony in the play.

1.Irony of Dialogue:

 Irony of dialogue means a remarks made by a character in a play may have meaning for him and other meaning for some of the other character and the audience.

 For example, when an oracle from Delphi reveals that the cause of the city's sufferings is the presence of the king Laius's  murderer in the city who is still at large , Oedipus says that

" I say I take the sons part just as though i were his son to press the fight for him"

Irony of dialogue is that Oedipus takes the responsibility to avenge the murderer of King Laius by considering himself his own son, but infact he is his own son and also his murderer .

Similarly when Oedipus calls Teiresias in order to know about the murderer of King Laius ,  Tairesias Refuses to raveal the truth, Oedipus becomes rash and calls him

:You sightless, witless , senseless, mad old man"

Irony of dialogue is that he is calling Teiresias as blind, but in reality he himself is mentally blind and can't see his own hideous crimes

When Oedipus comes to know about that he himself is the killer of his father , king Laius , he blind himself and requests Creon

" send me from Thebes".

Irony of dialogue is that he wants to be exiled from that man whom he himself wanted to exile.

Similarly, in the end of play Oedipus says to Creon,

" Be kind my lord  Great prince , be kind! "

 Irony of dialogue is that once he had called Creon a bad friend, killer and plotter but now he is calling him kind and great king.

2. Irony of Situation:

 Irony of situation means a situation in a play may have double significance in the sense that a disaster maybe foreseen by the audience while the characters concerned may be ignorant.such of type of irony is also called tragic irony.

For example :

we find irony of situation when Oedipus is making investigation about Laius's murderer.Oedipus himself is killer of Laius but he does not know the reality and he comes to know about it when the old Shepherd informs him about the true incident of his early life.At this moment Oedipus remarks,

" Oedipus damned in his birth,in his marriage damned ,damned in his blood,he shed with his own hand."

Jocasta enters into altar and prays for her husband.She prays to gods to save the city from the curse of defilement.

"And grant us deliverance,from defilement"

Irony of situation is that she is cursing defilement in city which is in fact her own husband, but she does not know the reality.

When messenger from Corinth reminds to shepherd that the child whom he had given to him is the king Oedipus, Shepherd says,

"What if i did, what are you trying to say."

Irony of situation is that messenger wants to reveal the reality of king Oedipus but shepherd is trying to conceal the truth.

When Oedipus leaves the stage, the song of chorus also shows irony of situation.

"No prince won such grace of power

 And now of all men ever known

 most pitiful is this man's story."

Oedipus was the best of all men and he saved the city from cruel monster(sphinx),but know the situation has changed and he has become the most pitiable person of the world.

3 Irony of Character:

Irony of character means a character opposite to his sayings and doings. For example,

The priest is praising the wisdom of Oedipus by saying;

"As to the best of all men best in adversity

   and wisest in the ways of  God."

The priest requests oedipus to save the city from plague as he had saved them from sphinx.But irony of character is that Oedipus himself is the cause of disaster in the city.

When Oedipus accuses Creon that he wants to become the king of Thebes after killing him,Creon says

"No.I have not gone mad; I need no honours."

Irony of character is that Creon says that he does not want to become king but in the end of the play, he becomes king.

When a messenger from Corinth comes to tell the news of Polybos's death, both Oedipus and Jocasta appear blasphemers towards prophecies.Oedipus says about oracle that

"They are empty words"

The greatest irony of character lies in the fact that Oedipus through his actions has fulfilled the prophesies, but he is considering them false.

The shepherd tells Oedipus that he is not real son of Polybos and in his childhood,he had saved him from dreadful death.

"I pittied the baby,my king."

THe irony of character is that the shepherd showed himself a good character by saving Oedipus from dreadful death but actually his good action became a bad act for Oedipus.

In the ode IV, chorus praises Oedipus

"Divine king, giver of laws"

But irony of character is that he breaks the laws of nature and is disobedient towards religion.

4.Irony of fate:

In the play we also find irony of fate in the characters of Oedipus, Jocasta, Laius and Shepherd. King Laius had recieved an oracle that his son by Jocasta would kill him and marry Jocasta.So they both decided to throw him in the mountain area to die in order to escape from fate.As Jocasta tells Oedipus

"Before the king had pierced the baby ankles

And left him to die on a lonely mountainside"

But they both failed to escape from fate as king Laius died at the hands of his own son and Jocasta also married her son. Thus they both become the victim of fate though they try their best to avoid it.

Similarly,fate also play an important part in the life of Oedipus . Oedipus recieves an oracle according to which he would kill his father and marry his mother. He leaves Corinth in order to escape from fate. But fate takes him towards his real parents and thus he kills his father and marries his mother. As Oedipus ironically says ,

"My fair winds brought me here."

we also find irony of fate in the character of Shepherd. Shepherd saves Oedipus from death and in this way he does goog with him. But irony of fate is that his good action becomes a bad action for Oedipus.

"He saved him but for what a fate."

5.Irony of place:

In the play , we also find irony of place.For example,

when Oedipus comes to know  that he was thrown by his parents at Kithran in order to die but he was saved, he addresses  to Kithran and says'

" Ah Kithran

why did you shelter me?

when i was cast upon you."

Oedipus requests Creon to send him to Kithairon because that place was chosen as a grave for him by his parents.

Similarly, we find irony of place over the city of Thebes when second messenger says to people of Thebes,

" I think  neither Istros nor phsis ,those great rivers

could purify this place of the corruption"

we find irony of place as the land of Thebes that was once a noble land, has now become corrupt and impure due to acts of Oedipus.

6.Dramatic Irony:

In the pla, we also find dramatic irony. when a person or character ironizes other character,but actually he himself ironized. This is called dramatic irony. There are many examples of it.For example:

when city is suffering from plague , the people of Thebes approach Oedipus and request him to help them.Oracle reveals that the murderer  of king Laius is the cause of plague. Oedipus proclaims that the killer must be driven out of city.HE curses upon murderer by saying,

"I pray that the man's life be consumed in evil and wretchedness"

We find dramatic irony as he is cursing upon murderer of Laius ,while he himself is murderer of and cause of pain in city.

The scene of quarrel between Oedipus and Teiresias is full of dramatic irony.Teiresias is reluctant to reveal the truth.Oedipus blames Teiresias  as,

" You planned it you had done it ,you all but

killed him with your own hand."

Dramatic irony is that Oedipus is accusing Teiresias as a killer of king Laius while he himself is the killer of king.

Similarly , when Oedipus tells Jocasta that he does not want to go back to Corinth because he is afraid of marrying his mother, Jocasta says to him,

"Have no more fear of sleeping with your mother

how many men , in dreams, have lain with their mother."

Dramatic irony is that she is saying to Oedipus that men can lie with their mothers only in their dreams but not in reality, so he should not be afraid of it.But actually he has been lying with his mother i.e with her. Thus she is ironizing those persons who dream to lie with their mothers, while her own son has done so in reality.

we find best example of dramatic irony in the play when Jocasta receives the news of Polybus's death, father of Oedipus, she cries with joy and declares;

" O riddles of God's will where are you now?"

Here dramatic irony lies as she is ironizing prophecies by calling them only empty and false words while the prophecies have been fulfilled  a long time ago.

Conclusion:

To sum up, we can say that irony is used with striking effect by  Sophocles in this play as we find all types of if irony in it....

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