In the third stasimon of Oedipus the King the chorus sings of praise and joy for the imminent revelation of Oedipus's true parents. This seemingly joyous occasion is being celebrated because Oedipus will now know who his mother and father truly are, and this will shed new light on the prophecy that has plagued him his whole life. Oedipus is under the impression that he will soon receive affirmation of his humble and lowly origins and take pride in his meteoric rise to power. The chorus serves to raise Oedipus up in honor and rejoice at, what appears to be, his great fortune and triumph over the ominous prophecies that he has tried to disprove. In this stasimon, the chorus sings in honor of the soon to be named mother of the great Oedipus. The chorus is creating a feeling of jubilance and fortune, which serves to enhance the readers" feeling of pity when Oedipus is crushed by drastically ill-fated news when he had expected a wonderful revelation. .
The stasimons in this work are very short and all seem to serve the same function of taking emotions from the previous episode and magnifying them with the effect of getting the reader in the mental state that the author had desired. Stasimon three works very well in achieving this because the readers are able to sense that something is amiss .
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by Jocasta's actions in the previous episode. However, the readers are also aware that, either intentionally or not, Oedipus is oblivious to the impending disaster, and is at an .
emotional high, filled with pride and joy. Sophocles follows the Greek tragedy well because this stasimon helps to cultivate the feeling of pity that is supposed to be elicited from the readers when the tragic hero falls. Oedipus expresses his unfortunate feelings of joy and pride at the end of the episode when he states, "She, perhaps/ is mortified by my base origins./ But I who count myself the child of Chance,/ the giver of good, shall never know dishonor.
