CHORUS:
This is a terrible sight for men to see!
I never found a worse!
1490 Poor wretch, what madness came upon you!
What evil spirit leaped upon your life
to your ill-luck—a leap beyond man’s strength!
Indeed I pity you, but I cannot
look at you, though there’s much I want to ask
1495 and much to learn and much to see.
I shudder at the sight of you.
In this passage, the line “What evil spirit leaped upon your life to your ill-luck-a leap beyond man’s strength!” shows the literary device known as hyperbole. Following with “I shudder at the sight of you”, this line may explain the possible exasperation Chorus has. This passage explains how Chorus is feeling towards Oedipus, expressing irritation and maybe even a bit of fury towards him and his actions. To express this, Chorus begun with “Poor wretch, what madness came upon you!”. This may state that Oedipus is blindsighted by negative emotions, and Chorus clearly seeing this.
