Blindness And Ignorance In Oedipus Rex Essay

In the play Oedipus Rex, the city of Thebes was reviled with a torment. His brother by marriage, Creon, revealed to him the best way to lift the reveal was to discover the enemy of the previous lord. Somebody had slaughtered Laius and now Oedipus is searching for the murder since he thinks about the city of Thebes. Creon says that Laius was killed in quite a while back. Creon likewise brings a visually impaired prophet by the name of Tiresias. Tiresias would not like to state anything to Oedipus since he needed to shield him from reality. Oedipus became furious and requested for Tiresias to disclose to him reality. Incited by the outrage of Oedipus, Tiresias starts to give insights of his insight. Alter straight begin saying that Tiresias was

In some stories, like Oedipus Rex, blindness is ironic. The blind man is the one who sees the truth

When you think of blindness you think of sight and when you think of ignorance you think of knowledge. Throughout the play Oedipus, sight and blindness imagery is very noticeable, along with ignorance and knowledge. Sophocles creates Oedipus as a character of ignorance, confidence, and good insight. The story starts out as Oedipus is the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta. The oracle told the parents that their son would kill his father and marry his mother. The parents refused to let this happen and sent the servant to pin Oedipus’s feet together and leave him on the mountain to die. The messenger knew this was not right and stepped in immediately to help the poor child. As Oedipus grew older he found out the truth about his life and why certain things happened. Over time, Oedipus's blindness shows him the lack of knowledge he knew about his true life story.

The author, Sophocles, of the play Oedipus the King, portrays the word “blindness” in two ironic ways. Though before the reader learns about this they must understand the purpose of why Sophocles used “blindness”, the author is trying to teach his audience to see clearly more around them, rather than being ignorant around the world that is around them. Oedipus, the main focus of the play, is seen “blind” in an important part of the play, when his wife, Jocasta, or later to be found out as his mom, finds out that the person she married is her son, and that she had, had children with him, so in the end she hangs herself, his wife was blind at the start just like her son, but now she sees that the fate of Oedipus was to come true. In summation of Oedipus’ fate that the ancient Greeks believed in very well, once Oedipus was born his fate in his life was to kill

Ignorance is a term that is well-known, but few that know the true meaning. To be ignorant is to lack knowledge or information given a certain issue. The saying, “Ignorance is bliss,” is not always the case. To receive the label as being ignorant is very seldom a compliment. Sophocles is a master with the use of dramatic irony when audience knows how ironic a situation is, but the characters do not. In Oedipus, Sophocles demonstrates how blindness and sight parallel to ignorance and knowledge through Oedipus himself and the many encounters he comes across regarding his blindness.

When we consider a blind person and a person with eyes, we usually deem the latter to be more knowledgeable. This is because they have the gift of sight and can therefore perceive the world around them and have more knowledge. This assumption is proven wrong in the play Oedipus Rex by the Greek writer Sophocles. The plot is about a baby who is born to the king and queen of Thebes with a terrible prophecy hanging above his head. The oracle of Apollo had predicted that the boy would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Afraid of the prophecy, the parents decided to kill the boy. But, he survives and lives to fulfill the prophecy. The main part of the play is his quest for his identity and what he does when he learns the truth

In the play Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, ignorance is a focal point of the reading. Oedipus, the character in which the play focuses on, is an ignorant individual who is looking to find the truth about the plague in his city of Thebes, as well as finding the killer of Laius. The lack of knowledge that he possesses about these mysteries is driving him mad. Oedipus so desperately wants to find out how to stop the plague and wants to find the killer of Laius just as equally. However, after searching and finally becoming aware of his fate and becoming aware of the truth, Oedipus significantly alters his life in a way in which he cannot come back from. Ignorance is quite often seen as a negative quality to possess, but maybe ignorance is what some people need to keep themselves sane.

Thebes is being punished by the gods for its ignorance. However, during the journey itself there are several indications that certain types of knowledge are better if they are ignored. In fact, Oedipus is warned more than once to put an end to his search but he chooses to ignore this. He is ignorant of the consequence of knowledge and can not see any harm in pursuing his journey.

Oedipus’s ignorance led him to believe the prophecy wasn’t. He bad mouthed the gods because he was the one to defeat the sphinx and not one of them. He believed that since he achieved said victory that nothing bad will happen to him, which invoked his inner blindness, ultimately causing his downfall. His anger was a flaw.

The Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles extensively examined the role of irony, chiefly concerning the relationship between true knowledge and ignorance, in his play Oedipus Rex. In this battle of truth and falsehood, two foes appeared: Theban King Oedipus (who was investigating the cure to a plague upon his city caused by the unsolved murder of the former king Laius) and the blind prophet Tiresias (who Oedipus called upon for advice in which to solve the mystery). Having solved the riddle of the Sphinx who had previously been afflicting Thebes, Oedipus thought highly of himself, and believed himself able to solve the murder mystery by similarly witty means; however, Tiresias, blind yet clairvoyant, urged him that he did not see the truth of the

Oedipus Rex is a story that can be interpreted on many different levels of thinking. The ancient tale has existed for centuries and has been subjected to countless forms of analysis. What is it that makes Oedipus the King such a fascinating story? Is it the suspense of a developing mystery that captivates the audience? Or perhaps the wonderful feeling the readers get after vicariously experiencing the horror Oedipus feels? And if not that, could it be that the reader is intrigued at Sophocles' description of one man's disbelief in the gods? Whichever way one looks at it, Oedipus Tyrannus was, and remains, one of the "most highly admired plays of all time" (Wood, et al, 163).

On multiple occasions, Teiresias warns Oedipus of the truth, but Oedipus, as stubborn as he is, pursues on. To his dismay, he finds a candor he cannot accept on account of his ignorance. Piqued by Teiresias’s supposive unjustifiable statement, he counters with “It [truth] has, but not for you; it has no strength for you because you are blind in mind and ears as well as in your eyes.” (428-430). By saying this, Teiresias cleverly exposes Oedipus’s ignorance to the reader. This one event completely changes the outlook on the play. The reader no longer sees Oedipus as a prideful king dedicated to Thebes, he is now seen as a narcissistic and ignorant egoist. Instead of listening to the wise man’s prophecy he immediately accuses Creon of sending “this rascal prophet to me, since he keeps his own mouth clean of any guilt.” (811-812) Oedipus not only chooses to ignore the prophecy, but blames Creon for sending Teiresias in some kind of scheme to take the crown. ______________________

Ignorance may be bliss, but people cannot choose to unlearn a piece of knowledge. Throughout Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, many references are made to who is blind and who can see. Oedipus himself suffers through being ‘blind’ in the sense of always being the last one to accept his fate. He is in a state of ignorance throughout most of the tragedy, which leads to his demise. Accordingly, in the greek tragedy Oedipus the King, Sophocles informs the readers that those who cannot see are gifted with sight in some instances, and those who see possess a burden that cannot be carried by just anyone.

From the very beginning of Oedipus, one can see that the main character of Oedipus is very sure about who he is and where he has come from. One of the most important motifs of the story is the idea of metaphorical blindness, and how Oedipus claims that everyone else around him is blind, and he is the only one that can see. However, what Oedipus soon finds out is that he has no idea who he is, and that all along he has been blind himself. Sophocles makes Oedipus suffer because of the fact that he actually has no idea who he is, and almost avoids figuring it out. It takes a defining moment for it to dawn on Oedipus that he is not who he thought he was. Oedipus’ blindness seems to have been his downfall, but the more prevalent question that

Ignorance can blind an individual from the truth. Plays were of great importance in early Greek culture. Plays were the main source of entertainment, and one of the most exceptional examples is Oedipus the King written by Sophocles. The drama is tremendously uplifted by the character development and the excellent structure Sophocles has put forward. Interactions between characters and each character’s motivations generate brilliant themes throughout the play. Sophocles uses a technique called recognition, which illustrates a character’s turn from ignorance to the truth. The play is about the city of Thebes which is racked by a plague and a crisis that is quickly wiping humans from the earth. The great king of Thebes is Oedipus who must dispose of the problem very quickly. He welcomes information from the god Apollo, who says Oedipus must punish the killer of the former king, Laius. In one of the instances where Oedipus tries to find the killer, he encounters Tiresias, who is a physically blind man but can see everything because he is a prophet of Apollo. Tiresias possesses the information but declines to cooperate with Oedipus. After a series of verbal insults, the audience is left in awe when Tiresias puts the blame on Oedipus. Similarly to Oedipus the King, dialogue “Allegory of the Cave” written by Plato also in the early Greek times, shows that ignorance can lead an individual to be blind from the truth. Sophocles magnificently develops a question of “Who sees and who is blind”. Also in Oedipus the King, Sophocles exhibits how selflessness and ignorance can blind a person from the truth, but eventually has to go through recognition which can cause great agony.