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The Chorus In Sophocles 'Oedipus The King'

691 Words3 Pages

The Reliability of The Chorus In Sophocles’ well-known tragic play, Oedipus the King the Chorus is only reliable at the end of the play. The Chorus is not reliable due to their change in opinion of the power of the g-ds and their inability to see the truth due to their bias towards Oedipus. The Chorus is reliable due to their ability to think logically, making them Oedipus’s voice of reason. Firstly, the Chorus is not a reliable source of information due to their constant change in opinion of the power of the g-ds. At the beginning of the play, when Thebes is in suffering the Chorus believes the g-ds are their only source of hope. The Chorus announces that “we calls upon you, immortal Athena, daughter of Zeus. And your sister Artemis, the protector of this land” (13) This quote shows how dependant the Chorus is on the g-ds. As the play continues the Chorus has a completely different opinion and they now believe the g-ds are not powerful. This is seen when the Chorus announces that, “the old …show more content…

The Chorus extremely respects Oedipus due to his noble actions for Thebes, “we all saw how the Sphinx came against him- there his wisdom was proved.” (27) This quote proves how proud and passionate the Chorus feels towards Oedipus. Due to their high level of pride for Oedipus they are incapable of judging Oedipus as guilty despite Tiresias’s reveal of truth, “but nether a mere man knows the truth - wether a human prophet knows more than I do - who is to be the fair judge?” (27) This quote is to display the Chorus questioning Tiresias’s honestly even though he known for always telling the truth. The Chorus is blinded by the truth due to their admiration for Oedipus, “my heart will never judge him guilty of evil action.” (28) This quote proves the Chorus is completely bias towards Oedipus therefore an unreliable source of

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