How Does Sophocles use Dramatic Irony in the first two scene

             At the beginning of Oedipus the King, Oedipus is hugely confident, and with good reason. He had saved Thebes from the curse of the Sphinx and has become king virtually overnight. He proclaims his name proudly as though it were itself a healing charm: "Here I am myself, you all know me, the world knows my fame, I am Oedipus." Oedipus has successfully built up his character to a degree that failure would be a considerable downfall, with not only embarrassment but also a loss of pride and self worth. He asks the people of Thebes to look to him as their saviour, as once before he had saved them. Of course we as the audience can see the irony: the Theban people posed in a desperate situation put their faith in this character, which adds to a greater shock to his people, mislead and betrayed by the one person they put they put their hope in.
             An instance of dramatic irony takes place in the scene in which Oedipus plausibly but mistakenly believes Creon to have conspired to portray him as a suspect of Liaus's murder. He believes Creon has the intention of having him expelled from the city and so that he can take over the kingship. He tells Creon that a man is a fool if he thinks that he can sin against his kinfolk and escape the wrath of the gods. We note that the warning is phrased as a universal statement: it applies to any person. He is notably harsh on the punishments he has planned to the eventual villain. This crates tension, as these are the punishments he must endure – exile from Thebes.
             At this point Oedipus can be excused as being ignorant as he is unaware of his actions. Oedipus is unaware of the identity of his parents. He lies ignorant that by killing the traveller he met at the three cross roads – he was murdering his own father King Liaus, and by marrying Jocasta - thereby committing incest with his mother. Dramatic irony is poignant when the audience hear Oedipus make this statement. They know the facts a...

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