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Lily Hilton

Droski

English 11

8 Nov. 2021

Analysis of Rhetorical devices in Oedipus Rex

There are many uses of rhetorical devices in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, and ones used include:

Metaphor, pathos, and diction. Oedipus uses each of these devices in various situations

throughout the play.

Metaphor is used in many pieces of literature, and it is very prevalent in Oedipus Rex. One

example of it is Oedipus and the way he is “blind to his prophecy”. Blindness is a very common

theme, whether it’s about the blind prophet Teiresias, or Oedipus’s own fate. In an attempt to

escape from the prophecy he had been told, Oedipus leaves Corinth. He unknowingly ends up

fulfilling the prophecy anyway. Another example of metaphor is when the Priest compares

Thebes to drowning in a stormy ocean. Some time after Oedipus becomes king, Thebes falls into

a Plague. A priest in Thebes compares their current situation to drowning in an ocean, using

metaphor: “Your own eyes must tell you: Thebes is tossed on a murdering sea and can not lift her

head from the death surge" (Sophocles). To explain the quote: Thebes is in a turbulent time, as

turbulent as that of an ocean in the midst of a storm.

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Pathos can appeal to numerous emotions, and that’s no different in Oedipus Rex. The use of

pathos becomes more and more common as the play goes on. As Oedipus learns how the

prophecy has played out, you begin to feel for him, and feel what he is feeling as well. One

example is the conversation between Oedipus and Kreon, before Oedipus is exiled. The

conversation is very emotional, and Sophocles uses things such as the death of Iokaste, and

Oedipus’s children to make the reader feel bad for Oedipus, appealing to compassion using

Pathos: “O Kreon, son of Menoikeus! You are the only father my daughters have, since we, their

parents, are both of us gone forever. They are your own blood: you will not let them fall into

beggary and loneliness; you will keep them from the miseries that are mine! Take pity on them;

see, they are only children, friendliness except for you. Promise me this, great prince, and give

me your hand in token of it." (Sophocles). This quote uses a lot of descriptive words to appeal to

pathos, especially with compassion; the way Oedipus talks about his kids to Kreon helps with

this.

Finally, there is diction. A form of this is the words said by the chorus, as they are usually in a

diction fitting to the subject. In the quote: “The tyrant is a child of pride who drinks from his

great sickening cup recklessness and vanity, until from his high crest headlong he plummets to

the dust of hope. That strong man is not strong, but let no fair ambition be denied;" (Sophocles),

an angry diction is used in words such as “tyrant” and “sickening”. It is used to show the distaste

that is had with Oedipus.

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In conclusion, Oedipus Rex is full of rhetorical devices, whether that be the use of certain

emotional dictions, metaphors to explain, or heavy words used to gain a reaction from those

reading.