... used to create a sense of deeper meaning and advance Oedipus Rex's dramatic tension. Sophocles was the first of the Attic Tragedians2 to utilize this literary device, his use of this technique is exemplified in the play's beginning; when accused by the blind prophet Tiresias of being the murderer of Laius and the reason for the pestilence overrunning the city, Oedipus vehemently denies the accusation, choosing to make a mockery of the prophet, deriding him for his blindness, "It has- but not for you; no not for you/Shameless and brainless, sightless and senseless sot!"3 This serves as a subtle piece of both dramatic foreshadowing and dramatic irony, it is ironic insomuch as Oedipus is deriding Tiresias for his lack of sight, whilst in reality Oedipus is guilty of being blind to the truth. Moreover, Oedipus resolved to prove a saving force for Thebes, announces that, "I mean to fight for ...

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