Irony in Oedipus Rex
Irony is an important part in Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles. The play revolves around two attempts to change fate: Jocasta and Laius’s killing of Oedipus at birth and Oedipus’s flight from Corinth. In both occasions, an oracle’s prophecies come true regardless of the characters’ actions. Jocasta sends Oedipus off to death only to find his health restored and married to her. Oedipus flees from Corinth and in doing so, he finds his real parents carrying out the oracle’s words. Each time when Oedipus and Jocasta try to interfere with the future that the oracles predict, the audience knows that their attempts are useless which creates irony throughout the play. Furthermore, Jocasta and Oedipus express their disbelief in oracles which appears ironic to the audience. In attempt to calm Oedipus, Jocasta tells him that the oracles are false, yet in the next scene, she is at an alter praying to the gods whose powers she has just denied. Oedipus rejoices when he finds Polybus to be dead because he believes that this is a sign that the oracles are fallible. Oedipus will not return to Corinth because of the oracle’s statement about Meropé may come true. Jocasta and Oedipus continue to believe that the oracles may be right, that gods c . . .
There is no escape from fate, no matter what one does. This seems to be an important message in the play. A drunken man tells Oedipus that he is a bastard. In spite of what Jocasta says about the unreliability of oracles, their predictions all come true and the audience very well knows that. Oedipus discounts the power of the gods; therefore, he values the power of truth. Sophocles does not mention the actual question that the Sphinx gives, but audiences would have known that the question was: “What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet midday, and three feet in the evening?” The answer that Oedipus gave was, of course, “a man. The irony is that the oracles and Oedipus’s seek for truth lead to the same outcome. Yet, he cannot see what is right before his eyes. Oedipus’s search for truth reveals that the oracles’ prophecies are true. The oracle's prophecy is the reason why Oedipus leaves Corinth, and in leaving Corinth and venturing into Thebes, he fulfills the oracle's prophecy. Oedipus’s search for truth shows himself to be a thinker good at unraveling mysteries. Teiresias warns him not to snoop into these prophecies, but the pride in his intelligence makes Oedipus continue his search for truth. When Oedipus refuses to believe Teiresias, Teiresias calls Oedipus blind and knows that he will surely become blind. Oedipus’s intelligence is what brings him closer to the gods, yet this same trait is what causes him to commit the most heinous crime.
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