Ticking clock, in the middle of things, flashback and back-story are three literary techniques used in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).
Specifically, the ticking clock suggests that disaster is close at hand. That clock starts ticking when Theban Queen Jocasta tells Oedipus of her first husband Laius' death at a three-road intersection.
"In the midst of things" is a device also known by its Latin phrasing "in medias res." The play in fact starts in the middle of things with suppliants intensely praying at the altar outside the royal Palace of Thebes. The fact that Thebans are praying tells us that a problem needs to be dealt with and is not being presented in chronological order.
Instead, the problem will be presented in part by the literarcy device of the flashback. An example is Oedipus telling Jocasta the circumstances of his killing five men at a three-road intersection. It is a flashback in the sense of changing the sequence of time and a back-story, whereby a story takes place before the story actually being shown on stage.
Dramatic irony is the key element.
Sophocles included many literary devices that helped tell the story. The most used literary device in the play is dramatic irony. Another literary device used by Sophocles is characterization. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles used characterization to portray Oedipus as the tragic hero. A third literary device used in the play is flashback, which is where the story switches from the present to an event that occurred in the past.
The literary device used is dramatic irony. The audience knows that the speaker is condemning himself to exile.
The literary technique is called "dramatic irony," when the audience knows more than the characters do. Dramatic irony is at work; it reveals that Oedipus often speaks rashly.
"Rex" is Latin for "King". Oedipus Rex means "Oedipus the King".
Dramatic irony is the key element.
Sophocles included many literary devices that helped tell the story. The most used literary device in the play is dramatic irony. Another literary device used by Sophocles is characterization. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles used characterization to portray Oedipus as the tragic hero. A third literary device used in the play is flashback, which is where the story switches from the present to an event that occurred in the past.
The literary device used is dramatic irony. The audience knows that the speaker is condemning himself to exile.
The literary technique is called "dramatic irony," when the audience knows more than the characters do. Dramatic irony is at work; it reveals that Oedipus often speaks rashly.
"Rex" is Latin for "King". Oedipus Rex means "Oedipus the King".
Thebes is the setting of Oedipus Rex because it is the place where the story begins.
'King' is an English equivalent of 'Rex' in the play 'Oedipus Rex'.
The shepherd in Oedipus Rex is the person who rescues Oedipus Rex as a child. The shepherd also confirms the main character's fate.
Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone
Oedipus Rex is part of a four part collection of plays, three tradgedies and a comedy. We do not have the Comedy but the three tradgedies are "Oedipus Rex", "Oedipus at Colonus", and "Antigone".
Oedipus
Sophocles, an Ancient Greek playwright, wrote Oedipus Rex.