Oedipus the King

In the story Oedipus the king, Oedipus considers himself to be the child of luck and boasts about his good fortune. Towards the end of the story Oedipus states “Luck is my mother who raised me; the months are my brothers, who’ve seen me through the low times in my life and the high ones. Those are the powers that made me.” He believes that he has good fortune and that it is that good fortune that has brought him to power. Oedipus throughout the story was worried about whether the killer is him or not, but in this text he seems to be reassured that he is not due to the good luck he has had up until now. He says luck is his mother and the months are his brothers thinking that good fortune is on his side but he’s soon to find out luck isn’t his mother but his wife is, and the months aren’t his brothers but more so his sons are.

Oedipus terribly mistakes his good fortune with his wretched one which is the dramatic irony shown here. The fact he saved the town and went on to become king in his own right was the opposite of luck; it was him fulfilling his cursed prophesy. This line shows Oedipus at his cockiest moment and displays his arrogance and blindness to the truth. The fact the fact the Oedipus thinks he is the child of luck is the best display of his mental blindness that has kept him powerful and sane up until the point of his revelation about his birth. This line does more than show dramatic irony, it shows how ignorant Oedipus is to his knowledge of origin and to people like Jokasta warning him to stop his search in order to protect him.