Sophocles' Use of Dramatic Techniques to Successfully Convey His Messages

Sophocles, a renowned Greek playwright, is considered one of the great Greek tragedians, eminent for showing underlying links to the role of fate in Ancient Athens through the use of dramatic techniques. Such an art can be noted in one of his greatest works, Oedipus the King. As the title suggests, the plot revolves around the voyage of a nobleman, Oedipus, who tries to avoid his own fate, something that in the end he fails to do. This is demonstrated by the number of dramatic techniques Sophocles incorporates, such as dramatic irony, symbolism, stage directions and his usage of the Chorus, hence successfully conveying his message of immutable fate in the life of Oedipus.

Dramatic irony is extensively used in the works of Sophocles' tragedies. The aim for this is to allow the audience to feel a sense of right of engagement in the play that develops a relation between the actors and the spectators. When Oedipus the King used to take place in Ancient Athens, every spectator would recognize the plot from the opening that Oedipus has unintentionally murdered his father and married his mother, as the story of Oedipus was also a well-known myth of the time. There are three types of dramatic irony prominent in the play; verbal irony, situational irony and tragic irony. When Tiresias, the blind prophet, accuses the Theban King Oedipus of murdering King Laius, Oedipus denies the fact and demands that the immoral individual, who murdered Laius, other than himself, will be either executed or banished from Thebes, "...he will suffer no unpleasant consequence except exile...may he drag out an evil death-in-life in misery"( 15). This shows the verbal irony of his ignorance as the actual murderer, where the blind is able to see the truth but the sighted man is incapable of seeing anything but deems he knows. An example of tragic irony is incest, which is one of the greatest crimes Oedipus committed and awakens the plague in the city. The audience is aware that Jocasta is Oedipus' biological mother yet he misses the boat to recognize his true relationship with his 'wife'.

The sight-blindness symbolism is extremely prevalent in Oedipus the King. Sophocles uses blindness as a recurring motif in the play and this is exemplified by the concept that the insight and vision of the Gods are boundless compared to the insight and visions of humans. Oedipus claims that he "sees the light" (24), but it is in fact the Gods who merely sees the light. The confrontation between Oedipus and Tiresias shows that Oedipus sees as all mortals do, but he is in deficit of the insight into reality about himself and his ambience. Additionally, the Chorus gravitate towards Tiresias as the "only man in whom truth is inborn" (18), suggesting that his vision and prophecies is equivalent to their Lord Apollo and that he has insight greater than that of man. Climactically, Oedipus blinds himself and provides logical reasons for this act, "but the hand that struck my eyes was mine and mine alone. What use had I for eyes? Nothing I could see would bring me joy."(75). It is a Sophoclean innovation that Oedipus blinds himself to deprive of all the insight of the extrinsic world that recalls him of agony, hence gouging his eyes to blot out the pain.

Because Oedipus' fate was predetermined, the choice that he makes at the crossroads is fateful. Oedipus murders his father Laius, at a place where three roads meet. Sophocles particularly locates the conflict at a three-way crossroads, showing the clearly free choices we make in life are really pre-established into us by superiority; in this case the Gods have decided that it's necessary for Oedipus to have a tragic life. The symbolism of 'three' is a notable factor in this play as it is reiterated several times, perhaps emphasizing his past, present and