Visual Spectacle in Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King”

Excerpts from the Paper

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English 2
9 January 2011
Visual Spectacle in Sophocles' “Oedipus the King”
The tale “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles was supported in large part by the use of visual spectacle. Early in the first scene, "a procession of priests enters; suppliants, broken and despondent, they carry branches wound in wool and lay them on the altar" (Sophocles 1102). The images which are conjured up by such a description emphasize the close-knit, serious nature of the proceedings. Immediately, the reader is forcefully delivered into the seriousness of the situation which is about to be described forthwith. It is at this point which Oedipus hears the plight of the priests and the reason for their...

.....y the combination of various elements utilized in the form of manifold examples of visual spectacle. The cast of characters and their dramatic words and actions all came together to build the colorful aspect of this epic tale. Oedipus finally was resigned to leave Thebes due to the catastrophic nature of his actions. The ultimate message of this visual spectacle was delivered in final chorus: “Now as we keep our watch and wait the final day, count no man happy till he dies, free of pain at last” (Sophocles 1143). The tragic ending to the tale only emphasized the intensity of the visual spectacle.
Works Cited
Sophocles. “Oedipus the King.” The Bedford Introduction to
Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. Print.