first place.The characters also create irony themselves, as is shown when Teiresias enters the stage and, reluctant to reveal what he knows, says:-“To be wise is to suffer. And why did I forget this, Who knew it well? I never should have come.”Since he knows how horrible the truth is about Oedipus’ fate, he is hesitant to reveal it. Thus, he speaks cryptic lines deliberately intended to be ironic, and cover up the truth.Teiresias also knows that Oedipus will eventually meet his downfall over this matter, and states “have you eyes, and do not see your own damnation?” Teiresias is the blind man who sees, and Oedipus is the seeing man who is blind. This is known by the audience, and Teiresias, all of who know what is going to happen at the end of the play – making it a skillful example of irony against Oedipus. Moments later Teiresias again prophesies Oedipus’ demise:-“But, as shall presently appear, a Theban born,To his cost. He that came seeing, blind shall he go;Rich now, then a beggar; stick-in-hand, groping his wayTo a land of exile; brother, it shall be shown,And father at once, to the children he cherishes; son,And husband to the woman who bore him; father-killer,And father supplanter.”The irony inherent in Teiresias’ parting shot at Oedipus is well known by the audience: Oedipus did kill his father and marry his mother. It is also ironic to note that Teiresias’ prophecy of Oedipus’ fate is almost exactly the same as the riddle of the Sphinx – begun as a strong man, ended as a cripple.In Greek tragedies, oracles and prophecies are employed primarily to foreshadow events and help create ironies within the play. They are usually disregarded by the characters, or passed off as incorrect, and this is how they create irony. One example of this is Jocasta’s continual refusal to accept the prophecies. She states that “no man possesses the secr...
