Oedipus Rex literary devices
...nd said things he shouldn't have about something that he knew little about. "May the gods dry them the fruit of the earth, fruit of the womb, and may they rot utterly" (l.257-258). In this quote Oedipus unknowingly told the gods to curse himself. This is an example of something he should have said because he knew little about the death of King Laius. That was also an example of dramatic irony. Because Oedipus did not take his time to see how King Laius dies, where he died, or what he looked like, Oedipus continued to do things that would haunt him in the future. "I struck him with my rage" (l.767). Sophocles used direct characterization here to describe what Oedipus was feeling when he killed his father. This wasn't the first time Oedipus made a major mistake because of his anger. Just before Oedipus killed his father he fled from whom he thought were his real parent because an oracle told him he was going to kill his father and marry his mother. This led him to Thebes where he married his mother, Jocasta. Later when Oedipus realized he had killed his father and married his mother he got outraged once again and Jocasta hung herself in shame. "Begging a sword"(l.1205), Oedipus wanted to gauge his eyes out so he...