Dramatic Irony In Sophocles 'Oedipus The King'

In the first two scenes of Oedipus the King by Sophocles, the protagonist Oedipus does not envision himself able to make the mistake of fulfiling his prophecy. Oedipus’ prophecy was to kill his father, marry and have children with his mother, but denies this as he has done nothing wrong. A quote that shows this is, “About the one who murdered Lauis- that man is here… And he will turn out to be the brother of the children in his house- their father, too, both at once, and the husband and the son of the very woman who gave birth to him… Go in and think on this” (Oedipus 21/73). In this quote the author uses dramatic irony when prophet Teiresias clearly states that Oedipus is the murderer of his father Lauis and is the spouse of his mother.