The Choral Odes in Oedipus The King

Following the social organisation of most let outes in antiquated Greek plays, Sophocles uses the chorus in Oedipus the King in changing ways by interacting with characters in scenes, providing an alter ego for the power and a voice for the citizens of Thebes. In Oedipus the King, the chorus is characterized by protracted and foreboding odes that illustrate groups in the play; reverence for the gods, svelte nature of mans fate and happiness, and the theme of blindness vs. sight and knowledge. Sophocles utilizes the chorale odes to reflect actions of the characters and influence the earreachs emotions.\nWhile the parodos describes the torture of Thebes from the plague, underlining the ode is the tension and fear of the diabolic to come. I am stretched on the rack of doubt, and terror and tingle hold my heart. (154-155). The gloomy, bleak wrangle of the first ode is in pedigree to the hopeful news Creon has brought Thebes. He has returned from the Oracle of Delphi with the news that in order to purify the city from the plague, the receiver of King Laius must be banished. The news should make unnecessary the town, however, it merely deepens the pessimistic lieu of the Chorus. My heart, O Delian Healer, and I piety full of fears for what doom you go forth constitute to pass, new or renewed in the revolving years. (155-157). Sophocles is mark to the audience that the cure, the banishment of the murderer of King Laius, will bring more agonies to Thebes.\nNot only does the parodos set the emotional posit for the audience, but it also foreshadows the actions of Oedipus. In the second to last stanza of the ode, the chorus prays to the gods: deny the stranger sound anchorage. Whatsoever escapes the night at last the light of day revisits; so smite him, draw Zeus, beneath your thunderbolt (196-200). The chorus is quick to wish savage upon the guilty party, which foreshadows the irony when Oedipus in the next scene says, Upon the murderer I in voke thi...