Literary devices in
Oedipus
Character Flaw
In literature, the tragic hero's error of judgment or
inherent defect of character. The "fatal flaw."
This, combined chance and other external forces,
brings about a catastrophe
Often the error or flaw results from nothing more
than personal traits like
pride and overconfidence, but can arise from any
failure of the protagonist's action or knowledge
ranging from a simple unwitting ness to a moral
deficiency.
Flashback
 Jocasta flashes back to tell the story of
Laius
Symbols
 Triple Crossroad killed King Laius at a place “where three roads
meet,” or a triple crossroad. Typically, crossroads symbolize a
choice to be made. Yet because the murder of Laius occurred in
the distant past. Oedipus’s choice has already been made, and so
the triple crossroads becomes a symbol not of choice but of fate.
 Swollen ankles
 As an adult, still limps from a childhood injury to his ankles. This
limp, and his very name—which means “swollen ankle,” and which
was given to him because of a childhood ankle injury—are clues
to his own identity that Oedipus fails to notice. As such, Oedipus’s
ankles become symbols of his fate. His ankles, literally, are the
marks of that fate.
Motifs
 Sight and blindness
 The Three Unities
 unity of time—all the action in the play takes place
during a single day. [Note: When characters recall
events and actions that took place at an earlier time,
unity of time still applies because the present moment is
still a single day—recalling or remembering is not the
same as the actual action or event taking place.]
 unity of space—the play must take place in a single
location—in front of the palace at Thebes. [Note: Again,
actions that are recalled that took place in other
locations, e.g., the place where three roads meet, are
still being recalled in front of the palace at Thebes.
 unity of action—everything that takes place, occurs, or
is described, relates to a central overarching idea. No
subplots; no unrelated patterns of diction, imagery, etc.
Aristotle Tragedy
 Aristotle cites Oedipus constantly in his
how-to manual for tragedy, Poetics. The
play meets nearly all of the tragic criteria
that Aristotle lays out in this famous book.
Tragic Hero
Characteristics of a tragic hero
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generally highborn
must be good
must aim at propriety—have good intentions
must be true to life—human
must be consistent
exhibits tragic flaw or flaws, often
 hubris—excessive pride
 âte—rashness
 experiences a reversal or fall
 brings about his own downfall (his prideful and/or rash
actions lead to his downfall)
 evokes both pity and fear in audience/reader
Hamartia: tragic flaw
 Scholars have been arguing for centuries over
an essential question: what is Oedipus's
hamartia, often called a tragic flaw? Aristotle
tells us in his Poetics that every tragic hero is
supposed to have one of these, and that the
hamartia is the thing that causes the hero's
downfall.
 Aristotle also cites Oedipus as the best
example ever of a tragic hero. Why then is it so
unclear to generation after generation, just
what Oedipus's hamartia ????????
Hamartia
 The word hamartia comes from the Greek
hamartanein, which means "missing the mark."
The hero aims his arrow at the bull's eye, but
ends up hitting something altogether
unexpected. Oedipus is the perfect example of
this. The target for Oedipus is finding Laius's
murderer in order to save Thebes.
 He does achieve this, but unfortunately brings
disaster on himself in the process. Oedipus
aim's for the bull's eye but ends up hitting his
own eyes instead.
Strophe and antistrophe
 Like most all ancient Greek tragedians, Sophocles
divides his choral odes into strophe and antistrophe.
Both sections had the same number of lines and
metrical pattern. In Greek, strophe means "turn," and
antistrophe means "turn back." This makes sense
when you consider the fact that, during the strophe
choruses danced from right to left and during the
antistrophe they did the opposite. Sophocles may have
split them into two groups, so that it was as if one part
of the Chorus was conversing with the other. Perhaps
the dualities created by strophe and antistrophe,
represent the endless, irresolvable debates for which
Greek tragedy is famous.
Oedipus Complex
 The Oedipus plays have had a wide-reaching
influence and are particularly notable for
inspiring Sigmund Freud’s theory of the
"Oedipus Complex," which describes a stage of
psychological development in which a child
sees their father as an adversarial competitor
for his or her mother’s attention (or in nonpsychology speak, it’s the kill-the-father-sleepwith-the-mother complex).
TONE
 Because this play doesn't have a
narrator, the tone is profoundly shaped
by the commentary of the Chorus. The
Chorus expresses genuine sympathy for
the situations of the characters, yet at the
same time is acutely aware of the
upcoming events.
 The play also has great examples of
some of Aristotle's favorite plot devices:
peripeteia, anagnorisis, and catastrophe.
Peripeteia means a reversal of intention
or a turning point
 Anagnorisis means a recognition. It's
where the tragic hero suddenly realizes
the terrible truth
peripeteia, anagnorisis, and
catastrophe
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Peripeteia means a reversal of intention or a turning point. In Oedipus this
happens when the Messenger shows up from Corinth. The man tries to ease
the King's mind by telling him that he's not really Polybos's son. Though the
Messenger intends only good things with this information, it ends up being the
thing that drives Oedipus toward his horrible fate. The wicked irony of this
turning point makes it a pitch-perfect peripeteia.
Anagnorisis means a recognition. It's where the tragic hero suddenly realizes
the terrible truth. In Oedipus the King it happens when the combined
testimonies of the Corinthian Messenger and the Theban Shepherd make
Oedipus realize that he's unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy he's struggled to
avoid. One of the things that makes Aristotle think the play is so great is that the
anagnorisis is directly caused by the peripeteia. The words of the Messenger
are what cause Oedipus to summon the Shepherd. The two plot devices are
linked by a terrible but inevitable logic.
Just as the peripeteia directly leads to the anagnorisis, the anagnorisis directly
leads to the catastrophe, or the terrible suffering. When the truth is revealed,
Jocasta hangs herself, Oedipus stabs himself in the eyes, and begs to be
banished. All these things add up to make Oedipus the King the gold standard
of tragedy
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Greek Theory of Tragedy: Aristotle's Poetics
The classic discussion of Greek tragedy is Aristotle's Poetics. He
defines tragedy as "the imitation of an action that is serious and also as
having magnitude, complete in itself." He continues, "Tragedy is a form of
drama exciting the emotions of pity and fear. Its action should be single and
complete, presenting a reversal of fortune, involving persons renowned and
of superior attainments, and it should be written in poetry embellished with
every kind of artistic expression." The writer presents "incidents arousing
pity and fear, wherewith to interpret its catharsis of such of such emotions"
(by catharsis, Aristotle means a purging or sweeping away of the pity and
fear aroused by the tragic action).
The basic difference Aristotle draws
between tragedy and other genres, such as comedy and the epic, is the
"tragic pleasure of pity and fear" the audience feel watching a tragedy. In
order for the tragic hero to arouse these feelings in the audience, he cannot
be either all good or all evil but must be someone the audience can identify
with; however, if he is superior in some way(s), the tragic pleasure is
intensified. His disastrous end results from a mistaken action, which in turn
arises from a tragic flaw or from a tragic error in judgment. Often the tragic
flaw is hubris, an excessive pride that causes the hero to ignore a divine
warning or to break a moral law. It has been suggested that because the
tragic hero's suffering is greater than his offense, the audience feels pity;
because the audience members perceive that they could behave similarly,
they feel pity.
Topic: Can we see and still be blind?
LITERARY DEVICES
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A simile: a comparison of two dissimilar things using "like" or "as", e.g.,
"my love is like a red, red rose" (Robert Burns).
A metaphor: a comparison of two dissimilar things which does not use
"like" or "as," e.g., "my love is a red, red rose" (Lilia Melani).
Personification: treating abstractions or inanimate objects as human,
that is, giving them human attributes, powers, or feelings, e.g., "nature
wept" or "the wind whispered many truths to me."
hyperbole: exaggeration, often extravagant; it may be used for serious or
for comic effect.
Apostrophe: a direct address to a person, thing, or abstraction, such as
"O Western Wind," or "Ah, Sorrow, you consume us." Apostrophes are
generally capitalized.
Onomatopoeia: a word whose sounds seem to duplicate the sounds they
describe--hiss, buzz, bang, murmur, meow, growl.
Oxymoron: a statement with two parts which seem contradictory;
examples: sad joy, a wise fool, the sound of silence, or Hamlet's saying, "I
must be cruel only to be kind"
Deus ex machina
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deus ex machina literally "god from the machine") is a plot device in which a person or thing
appears "out of the blue" to help a character to overcome a seemingly insolvable difficulty. It is
generally considered to be poor storytelling technique.
Dramatic Irony
 Sophocles makes great use of dramatic
irony in Oedipus Rex. We, as the
audience, know quite a bit about Oedipus
that he does not know.