Man's subjection to the toils of fate is often considered cruel; one with a doomed destiny is, many times, powerless and vulnerable against his own prophecy. "Oedipus the King," written by Sophocles, is a play that is universally held as the classic example of the "tragedy of fate." Throughout this piece, Tiresias' prophecy against Oedipus results in the king's search for truth and the anguish caused once he has found it. The unmerited pain that Oedipus suffers is a "sense of injustice cut deeply" (755) since his life and fate has been predetermined. Through this personal injustice, Sophocles elicits sympathy for Oedipus using various techniques such as irony, foreshadow, and diction.

Perhaps the most effective and profuse technique used to educe sympathy for Oedipus throughout this piece is Sophocles's utilization of irony. At the start of "Oedipus the King," the audience is aware that Oedipus is the murderer of...