COurt Essay, Research Paper

Oedipus is a very interesting character in Greek mythology. He encounters many episodes on his journey, escaping the dangers of the prophecy he was told. Oedipus the King us the is quite exciting to the readers because of the dramatic irony Sophocles uses throughout the trilogy. Dramatic irony is when the audience is aware of something that is going to happen in the story, and the charatcer really has no idea. Oedipus the King is a Greek tragedy. There are five basic elements of a typical tragedy. They are prologue, parados, episode, stasimon, exodus.

The prologue is basically the opening scene, in which the background of the story is formed. This is usually accomplished by a dialogue between two characters, or by a single actor. Parados is the entrance of the chorus(clarifies the feelings and experiences of the character), usually chanting a lyric that relates to the main theme. The counterpart of the modern scene, where the plot is developed through action or dialogue is called the episode. Stasimon is basically the choral ode. Finally, the exodus is the conclusion or final action, usually ended by a “ceremonial exit” of all the characters in the tragedy. These are the five basic elements that make up a Greek tragedy.

To get a better understanding of Oedipus the King, you can go to the link below, and get an overview of the tragedy.