Bring out the importance of the Chorus in Sophocles King Oedipus.

Describe the role of Chorus in King Oedipus.
Ans. Originally the word "chorus" means a place for dancing and singing and it was associated with the festival of Dionysus in ancien Greece. In fact, Greek tragedy originated with choral songs in which actors were included. Therefore, it is an integral part of Greek tragedy. As Aristotle in Poetics postulates, "The chorus too should be regarded as one of the actors, it should be an integral part of the whole and take a share in the action. As an essential part of the Greek tragedy, the chorus played a vital role fulfilling a number of functions. It acted as a commentator by unfolding the past, commenting on the present and foreshadowing the future. Through its songs and dance it also added colour. Again, it sometimes took part in the action like a character. Moreover, as the stage in ancient Greece had no curtain and the plays had no act divisions, the choral songs were also used to represent the passage of time and to mark the scenes. King Oedipus is a masterpiece of Greek dramatist Sophocles (496-406 B.C.). Here, Sophocles uses the Chorus, twelve to fifteen elders of Thebes, distinctively. The Chorus in the play is not only a mere observer; rather it acts like an individual character taking part in the main action. The choral songs serve inore than the structural function. They invocate to the gods, moralize on any action, and predict the future action. The Chorus also takes part in the dialogue and meditates in different situations.In King Oedipus, the Chorus appears on the stage after the prologue. It presents a background and comments on the present situation. It invokes the gods and seeks relief from the affliction that befalls on the city. It also repeats the news from the Delphi: Unlike his contemporary Euripides, Sophocles was known to integrate his Chorus into the action of the play. In King Oedipus, the Chorus acts like a character. It advises Oedipus to take help of blind prophet Teiresias to find out the killer of Laius. It also pacifies the hostility between Oedipus and Teiresias as well as Oedipus and Creon. Again, the Chorus manages to convince Oedipus not to banish or execute Creon.
The very beginning of the play marks Sophocles' use of dramatie irony when Oedipus, king of Thebes, declares, "I, Oedipus / Whose name is known afar." But the spectators know that he is the man whe has done the most abominable crime of patricide and incest. Again Oedipus in reply to his people's supplication promises that he will do
whatever requires to remove their distress. He says :
"I will start afresh; and bring everything into the light.
Whoever he was, might think to turn his hand Against me; ..."
But little he knows that he is the "unclean thing" that is polluting the very soil of Thebes. Another brilliant example of dramatic irony is revealed through the following lines where he unconsciously curses himself : The killer of Laius,
"No matter who he may be, he is forbidden Shelter or intercourse with any man In all this country over which I rule."
The encounter between Oedipus and Teiresias is replete with irony. The first irony is that Oedipus calls Teiresias to help him find out the murderer of Laius but he finds himself as the "cursed
polluter". In fury he calls the blind prophet a "Shameless and brainless, sightless, senseless sot!" Ironically it is Oedipus, not
Teiresias, who has eyes but cannot see his "own damnation". Sophocles also uses dramatic irony when Oedipus blindly accuses Creon of treachery. The irony lies in the fact that Oedipus who thinks he
is right is proved wrong in the end. Again, it is Oedipus who has to seek forgiveness to Creon when he becomes the king of Thebes. Moreover, Jocasta also contributes to the dramatic irony of the play. When she hears the death of King Polybus whom Oedipus thinks his real father and leaves to avoid the Oracle's prediction of patricide and incest, she exclaims "Where are you now, divine prognostications!" The irony is that the Oracle is right all time and the audiences know it. Even the entire play can be viewed as an example of irony. After all, throughout the play Oedipus does not know of the fate that awaits him. But the viewers who have the foreknowledge about the myth are intensely conscious that "Oedipus the King of Thebes will become  Oedipus the Beggar". Thus, dramatic irony plays a pivotal role to intensify the tragic doom of Oedipus. Sophocles uses this device profusely, every dialogue, situation and character of the play.