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Maham Amir
Ms. E. Brown
ENGD 2D8
October 18, 2012
Sardonic Ignorance

Every man can see things far of but is blind to what is near. Sophocles, the Greek
tragedy writer, said this quote, which proves to be very true for his play Oedipus the King. The
recognition, or anagnorisis, in Oedipus the King occurs when both the Corinthian messenger
and the Theban shepherd confirm that his father was not Polybius, but Laius. This is also when
he realizes that he is the one who murdered Laius and that had married his own mother. As it
was, this moment of insight was already awful, however, if the irony in the rest of the play was
to be deliberated on, the overall impact of the revelation was much worse. He unknowingly
made very ignorant and ironic comments, which made the situation of finding out the truth
much worse. Irony magnifies the effect of the great recognition in Oedipus the King when
Oedipus calls a curse upon himself, when he calls himself the son of good chance, and when
he mocks Tiresias for his lack of sight and insight.

A distinctive case of irony that contributed to the recognition is when Oedipus
declares to the people of Thebes that the killer would be rightly punished. After he states the
repercussions of aiding the murderer, he moves on to the assassin and says; As for the
murderer himself, I call a curse on him [] May he drag out an evil death-in-life misery
(Sophocles 15). This quote is quite ironic because Oedipus had no idea that he, in fact, was the
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murderer, and consequentially, he unknowingly calls a curse upon himself. This irony was
conducive to amplifying the odious effect of the recognition. This can be proven when
Oedipus insists on leaving the land in exile or being executed because he knows that he cursed
himself and therefore needs to rid the land of his presence. The actuality of the curse makes the
truth of his sins even more devastating.

During the play, Oedipus often boasted about himself, and many of those remarks
were ironic. For example, when he says, But I call myself the son of Good Chance, the giver
of success I shall not be dishonoured (Sophocles 62), it is sardonic because believes that he
has good fortune on his side. However, in reality, his good fortune had actually been bad
luck. When he became King and married Jocosta, that was, in truth, a curse of sorts. By
gloating about how blessed he was by the gods, he made it seem as though nothing bad could
ever befall him. It was the bragging that made the aftermath of his insight monstrously
sickening. Had he not taken so much pride in being so favoured by fate and chance, the effect
of the truth would not have been as earth shattering.

Finally, the most significant instance in Oedipus the King where irony amplifies the
outcome of the recognition is when Oedipus mocks Tiresias for his absence of sight. Tiresias
tells Oedipus the truth about his past and parentage and in turn, Oedipus is furious. He accuses
Tiresias of being a scoundrel and of forming a conspiracy with Creon. He says; You have no
power or truth. You are blind, your ears and mind as your eyes (Sophocles 23). This is ironic
because he scorned Tiresias for being physically blind and having no insight, when, in fact, he
was the one who was ignorant to what sins he was really living. This is also ironic because
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subsequently, he was the one who blinded himself since he could no longer bear to live in the
light. His sardonic remarks are what later made him want to blind himself. He felt ashamed
because of what he had said to Tiresias, knowing that he was right and Oedipus was the one
who was wrong. Oedipus scathing words caused him to feel much more mortified about his
actions and collaterally resulted in increasing the impact of the recognition.

Irony plays a crucial role in Oedipus the King to make the effect of the great
recognition more melodramatic. Throughout the play, Oedipus unknowingly makes satirical
remarks, which make the situation of gaining insight unsettling; even more so than it already
was. This can be seen when he curses the murderer, when he says that he is the son of Good
Chance, and when he tells Tiresias that he lacks both insight and physical sight. Sophocles had
made good use of irony in this text to contribute to the anagnorisis, which is when Oedipus
discovers the truth about heritage. He realizes that he had been living a lie and had committed
many sins. His ignorance cost him dearly in the end.