In Oedipus Rex, what writing style and dramatic devices and conventions does Sophocles use?

In
, the mainspeak largely in extended prose
monologues while thechant their lines
in a Strophe (turn) and Antistrophe (turn back) structure.

Overall,
dramatic is dominant dramatic device used by .  We, the audience,
know thatkilled his father and murdered his mother, but Oedipus andremain oblivious, despite
in their own dialogue, Tieresias' warnings, and testimony by
first-hand witnesses.

related to sight and
blindness, metaphors for knowledge and ignorance are also used frequently.  "Sight" is
used 14 times; "See" is used 19 times; "Eye" is used 16 times;
"Blind" is used 16 times.  For example, Oedipus tells Tieresias:

Thou knowest, though thy blinded eyes
see naught,
What plague infects our city; and we turn
To thee, O
seer, our one defense and shield.

Fate imagery is also prevalent.  Imagery related to "oracles,"
"Delphi," "curses," "destiny," and the "stars" show the
cruel suffering Oedipus' choices have caused.

Apostrophe (a speech made directly to a person or thing
not present) is also used often for dramatic effect.  In Oedipus' last , he lists
several:

O Polybus, O
Corinth, O my home...

AND

Why didst thou harbor me,
Cithaeron, why
Didst thou not take and slay me?

Lastly, rhetorical questions are found
in abundance, all related to man's questioning of himself, fate, and the gods:

How had I dared to look you in the face?

What,
born as mine were born?

Say, friends, can any look or voice
Or touch
of love henceforth my heart rejoice?