Following the structure of most choruses in ancient Greek plays, Sophocles uses the chorus in Oedipus the King in dynamic ways by interacting with characters in scenes, providing an alter ego for the author and a voice for the citizens of Thebes. In Oedipus the King, the chorus is characterized by lengthy and foreboding odes that illustrate themes in the play; reverence for the gods, tenuous nature of man's fate and happiness, and the theme of blindness vs. sight and knowledge. Sophocles utilizes the choral odes to reflect actions of the characters and influence the audience’s emotions. While the parodos describes the suffering of Thebes from the plague, underlining the ode is the tension and fear of the evil to come. “I am stretched on the rack of doubt, and terror and trembling hold my heart.” (154-155). The gloomy, bleak language of the first ode is in contrast to the hopeful news Creon has brought Thebes. He has returned from the Oracle of Delphi with the news that in order to purify the city from the plague, the murderer of King Laius must be banished. The news should relieve the town, however, it only deepens the pessimistic view of the Chorus. “My heart, O Delian Healer, and I worship full of fears for what doom you will bring to pass, new or renewed in the revolving years.” (155-157). Sophocles is signaling to the audience that the cure, the banishment of the murderer of King Laius, will bring more agonies to Thebes. Not only does the parodos set the emotional state for the audience, but it also foreshadows the actions of Oedipus. In the second to last stanza of the ode, the chorus prays to the gods: “deny the stranger safe anchorage. Whatsoever escapes the night at last the light of day revisits; so smite him, Father Zeus, beneath your thunderbolt” (196-200). The chorus is quick to wish evil upon the guilty party, which foreshadows the irony when Oedipus in the next scene says, "Upon the murderer I invoke this curse may he wear out his life in misery to miserable doom!" (245-249). Oedipus has no self-awareness and is blind to the fact that he killed Laius, and the chorus further exemplifies blind rage through their swift condemnation of the murderer. With the second choral ode, Sophocles unequivocally comments on the play's theme of blindness versus sight. Preceding the ode, Tiresias confronts Oedipus and asserts that he is the murderer of King Laius. The chorus is stunned by the events that have unfolded and although they are willing to accept the powers of the gods they are unwilling to see the truth and accept the accusations made by Teiresias. "The skilled bird prophet bewilders me terribly" (483). There is a conflict betwe