Because the chorus is reliable throughout, constantly giving advice to the characters, the audience place their trust in them; this makes it furthermore effective when they give a vivid description. "He tore the brooches " the gold chased brooches fastening her robe " away from her and lifting them up high, dashed them on his own eyeballs, shrieking out such things as: they will never see the crime I have committed or had done upon me! And the bleeding eyeballs gushed and stained his beard "no sluggish oozing drops but a black rain and bloody hail poured down. " (Oedipus the King 1268-79) .
The effects of the audience hearing about Oedipus's actions are far greater than if they were to whiteness it because now they are not only thinking about what is happening at hand but about his whole journey. By not seeing certain things in the play but hearing about them it allows the audience to take into consideration the real tragedy which is Oedipus self-discovering his crimes. .
This particular passage takes us through all the crimes and mistakes that Oedipus has committed, it also allows Oedipus to realize one of the most prominent themes in the play (that of sight and blindness). Oedipus is blinded throughout the play by his egoistical ways and his pride, Sophocles plays on this when we approach this violent scene by actually having Oedipus gouge out his own eyes. It is a metaphorical circle which Sophocles was extremely good at creating. So when Oedipus could physically see, he was terribly blind to truth and morals, it is only when he gouges out his own eyes that the he can then see the truth and his crimes are apparent to him. The chorus states; "This is a terrible sight for men to see! I shudder at the sight of you.(Oedipus the King 1297-305) .
Alongside the chorus's description, the audience are left to their own imaginative devices. We know that everybody has different imaginations and for example would picture events from a book different to someone else.
