unconscious and conscious irony. Unconscious irony occurs when a character speaks what he believes is the truth, but the audience (fore-armed with knowledge of the truth) knows that it is not. Conscious irony is evident when a character knows the truth but is reluctant to reveal it: thus, he speaks cryptic lines deliberately intended to be ironic. Both types of irony will be examined in this paper and passages from the text will be cited in support of this thesis.

At the moment of his birth, Oedipus received a reading from the Delphic Oracle which stated that the baby was destined to grow up to murder his father and marry his mother. Shocked, his parents (King Laios and Queen Locaste of Thebes) try to circumvent Hera’s curse by turning the infant over to a loyal servant (The Theban Shepherd) to take to the top Mt. Cithaeron to be killed. After nailing his ankles together and leaving him to die of the elements, the old shepherd relents and hands the child over to a traveling shepherd from Corinth to take b

I make this proclamation to all Thebans:

Our first example of conscious irony occurs later in scene I. Again, following Creon’s advice, Oedipus decides to consult Tiresias, a famed blind prophet. Armed with mystical ability, Tiresias knows the truth about Oedipus’ horrible fate. He knows that the King is doomed so he is reluctant to reveal what he knows. As he enters the stage, the old man says:

Laios might who knows? Decide at any moment to kill me as well. By avenging the murdered King I protect myself. (pg. 863, lines 133-142)

Some topics in this essay:
Laios Decide, Tiresias Oedipus, Oedipus Laios, Sophoclean Irony, Queen Corinth, Creon Delphic, Mt Cithaeron, Delphic Oracle, Queen Locaste, Unfortunately Hera, unconscious irony, conscious irony, irony occurs, deliberately intended, lines deliberately intended, example unconscious, delphic oracle, oedipus rex, sophoclean irony, reluctant reveal, example conscious irony, lines deliberately, example unconscious irony, cryptic lines deliberately, speaks cryptic lines,