Literary Techniques (Leaving Cert Classical Studies): Flashcards

Audience knows what characters don't, creating tension

Theban elders

Voice of community & moral commentary

Ode to Man

Explores central moral conflicts in depth

Piety, family loyalty, divine order

Prison & bridal chamber (death-in-life)

Rapid line-by-line dialogue between characters

Intensifies dramatic conflict & tension

Absent - no god intervenes at end

Emotional appeal evoking pity, fear, sympathy

Purification of emotions through pity & fear

It was not Zeus who made this law

The city is the king's - that is the law

Prophetic voice warning of divine will