Sharon Gobjila Discussion 2

In Oedipus the King, the chorus is a collective group of actors or voices that represent the reactions and opinions of citizens of Thebes. In one of their Odes, they sang the following; Stanzas 1370 to 1375 “Count you as equal with those who live not at all! What man, What man on earth wins more of happiness than a seeming and after that turning away? Oedipus, you are my pattern of this, Oedipus, you and your fate! Luckless Oedipus, whom of all men I envy not at all.”  The chorus exemplifies Aristotle’s criteria for great tragic theatre here by using exaggeration, dramatic verbiage, and demonstrating the irony of the situation without explicitly stating it as so. Here they had just found out the true origins of Oedipus’s childhood.  The chorus is speaking about the irony of how successful, happy, and well-loved Oedipus was as a king, and how far he is falling from grace.