Use Of Irony In Sophocles 'Oedipus The King'

In the play Oedipus Rex Oedipus is chosen to be king because unlike many citizens in Thebes he solves the Sphinx riddle. However, he becomes blind with the riddle of his own life as he is trying to understand it. By examining Sophocles’ use of irony, we can see that Oedipus’s fatal flaw is blindness to his own truth.

Sophocles’ makes Oedipus’s intelligence visible to us as he solves the Sphinx riddle but unfortunately, Oedipus demonstrates to be book smart but not street smart. It is stated by Teiresias he tells Oedipus "Listen to me. You mock my blindness do you? But I say you, with both your eyes, are blind," (page 13). Irony is illustrated in this quote because Teiresias, who is truly blind, shows that Oedipus can’t see the truth that is in front of him, while we, the audience, can. It also reveals that Oedipus is in complete denial. Even though pieces of the prophecy are coming together, he does not want to accept them. Although Oedipus is wise his intelligence affects Oedipus negatively and positively.
And so, for all this years I have kept clear of Corinth, and no harm has come. " (Page 29) Oedipus explains what was prophesied for him and ironically, as he runs away, he doesn’t see that he is making the prophecy become true. We, the audience, know that he in fact kills his father and is sleeping with his own mother making Oedipus look very clueless as to what he is doing with his life and who’s really involved in