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Analysis Of Tiresias In Oedipus The King

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Tiresias was the blind soothsayer of Thebes and he appeared in Oedipus the King and is one of the most important characters in this play. Oedipus the King, also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BC. It was the second in order of Sophocles’ actual composition of his plays dealing with Oedipus. (Wikipedia) He also recognizes the true character of others, despite himself being blind, and is able to predict the future. He appears in Oedipus Rex, because his presence and his talents are requested by Theban King “Oedipus”. As we all know Oedipus is the title character, and the protagonist of this play. The play focuses on Oedipus’s quest for knowledge on one hand, and on the other hand, the other characters resistance to discovering the truth.

The entrance of Tiresias in this play hints a crucial turning point in the plot. But in this play, Oedipus the King, we can see that Tiresias also serves another role in enlarging the dramatic irony that takes place in this play, and this is by his blindness. Thus throughout the play we can see that Tiresias uses his psychic abilities to foreshadow the pain and devastation Oedipus will encounter, after he finds out the true things about himself and his life. In the beginning of this play Tiresias warns and tells Oedipus not to mock him so quickly, which foreshadows to us that Tiresias is a wise man and he has many good attributes that the city of Thebes needs.

As we all know that Tiresias is a blind prophet, however he can still see …show more content…

In the scene which I just talked about, in the paragraph above, we can see that there is tragic irony provided by the predictions that Tiresias makes. As I mentioned before, Tiresias knows the importance of his predictions, while Oedipus is completely ignorant on how significant those statements, which Tiresias makes

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