While reading Oedipus and watching the play I came across some forms of irony, but the one that appeared the most to me was dramatic irony. According to my understanding, the element dramatic irony occurs when a situation is recognized by the audience but not by the characters. In view of the prophecy, young Oedipus escapes to another city where his birth parents lives, unknowingly kills his own fathers, marries his own mother and has four children with her. The entire play is ironic because Oedipus wants to cure his city from the plague by discovering who Laios’s murderer is, but little does he know incest is a great crime that he unknowingly contributed to and he is truly the cause of the epidemic. The powerful King Oedipus thinks he is cursing the killer of Laios, when in fact he is cursing himself. “I pray god that the unseen killer, whoever he is, and whether he killed alone or had help, be cursed with a life as evil as he is, a life of utter human deprivation.” (Oedipus the King, 296-300).

Since I am watching the dilemma from the outside, I can easily see all the irony that consists with King Oedipus. Although Oedipus can physically see at first, he is extremely blind to the truth. It is not until he is literally blind himself, where he finally accepts what the blind man Tiresias saw and told him. Oedipus did not believe a word from Tiresias but instead mocked his knowledge even though he asked Tiresias for the truth, and the whole truth is what he received, yet could not accept. Oedipus once conquered the complicated Sphinx riddle, but has no answer to the mystery of his own reality.

The intended effect of irony in “Oedipus the King” is Fate. The Gods already determined Oedipus and Jokasta’s fate from way before they knew and fate has to be accepted because it is inevitable and cannot be avoided. Overall, Oedipus was incapable of alternating his fate and denying his fate caused him to face the despicable consequence of his actions. Oedipus will never win the battle against himself, and his encounter with the truth is a tragedy.