Dramatic Irony In Oedipus Rex

Oedipus qualifies as a tragic hero because of his characteristics and dramatic irony in the story. For a common trait for a tragic hero, Oedipus has suffered more than he deserves. Oedipus also understands his doom when he discovered his fate by his own action. Oedipus in lines 338-706, his anger and arrogance makes him think that Creon and Tiresias are conspiring to overthrow him because Tiresias would not tell him who his father murderer is. This also shows dramatic irony because of Tiresias is blind, but can see the truth. The characteristics at Oedipus words would work against by how line 340, Oedipus praises Tiresias, but with his arrogance, 40 lines later, he accuses him of treason. This will all connect when he finds out that he was

As a powerful secondary character, Jocasta, Oedipus’ wife and mother and Creon’s sister attempts to make peace between Oedipus and Creon. Jocasta does this by being a mother and a wife to Oedipus. As a wife, Jocasta tries to comfort her husband and in lines 707-725, “Then thou mayest ease...reveal”(Oedipus,25), she urges Oedipus to deny Tiresias prophecies as false to make peace with Creon. As a mother, she solves the riddle of Oedipus’s identity before Oedipus, and shows her love for her son and tries to protect him from this knowledge. In lines 1068-1073, “Ah mayst thou...evermore”(Oedipus,37), she is aware this knowledge will hurt Oedipus so she urges him to stop seeking his true identity. Jocasta in Oedipus plays two roles in Oedipus Rex and tries to protect Oedipus and her overall character development is to make

Oedipus knows the life of man, but does not know his identity and his life. This situational irony is created to show Oedipus intelligence, but does not apply it to his awareness and does not question his identity.
Oedipus speech is ironic because in lines 63-65(Oedipus,5), “My poor children...sick” he talks about how his people are suffering because of a sickness. Oedipus then talks about how he is suffering and sent Creon to find the problem even though he is the cause of the problem and Oedipus is suffering for an action he made.
The Chorus in Oedipus Rex are a group of elders and men who represent the men of Thebes. This group is considered to be the people of the Thebes society that Sophocles uses to talk about or foreshadow Oedipus actions and events that will come in the future. In lines 963-967, the Chorus says “Pride breeds the tyrant violent pride, gouging,...doom”(Oedipus,32), commenting about Oedipus arrogance because of his pride and believes that he is the hero and that everyone else has a cruel fate. They also foreshadow that his pride might make this tyrant