Essay On Blindness In Oedipus

The downfall of Oedipus is result of his ignorance and arrogance through the course of the play. He had to learn through the hard way that he can not change his fate. For this reason he made a final attack on the prophecy by blinding himself to coward behind the reality, the work of the prophecy. Truly, pride is the germ of

People equate ‘seeing’ to gaining knowledge. Expressions such as “I see” and “seeing truth” are used to express understanding of something, but is seeing really the same as knowing? In Oedipus the King, Oedipus’s inability to grasp the truth is despite the fact that he is physically able to see contrasts Teiresias’s knowledge of the truth even though he is blind. The irony of the blind man being knowledgeable, and the seer becoming blind to the truth suggests that the idea that knowledge is not related to physical sight. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus is able to see but does not know the truth about who killed Laius. At the conclusion of the play, Oedipus is

Creon then tries to warn Oedipus about his condemning, “To slur a good man’s name/With baseless slander is one crime-another/Is rashly to mistake bad men for good./Cast out an honest friend, and you cast out/Your life, your dearest treasure.” [pg42]. As Creon tries to convince him to go about things in a more timely, and sensible way Oedipus hears none of it and still pursues his march of getting to the bottom laying the blame elsewhere all along the way. As Creon and Teriesas both note suggestions to Oedipus’ involvement he still pursues further investigation without the littlest consideration at his own guilt. This lack of foresight, and understanding again is another cause to Oedipus’ self-inflicted downfall. However, there are many factors that contribute his downfall that he could not have prevented and were truly acts of fate and destiny. His self-assurance to his wisdom that was bred by his “mother-wit and not by bird-lore” (as he takes a stab at Teriesas pg 37) really comes to surface during his encounter with a riddling Sphinx. This inflated view of his wisdom later leads to his downfall. But it was only by fate that he ignorant Oedipus was awarded a IQ freebie from the

Due to his arrogance and narcissism, Oedipus fails to take heed of Tiresias warning of whom Creon sent him and decided that the accusations that were being made against him are attempts to steal his throne. Likewise, Oedipus tells Tiresias when he was reluctant to tell Oedipus is Laius’ killer, “What then, thou knowest, and yet willst not speak!/Wouldst thou betray us and destroy the

Talk about road rage! Oedipus is pushed out the way by a wagon, and he retaliates by killing almost everyone in the wagon, including his father! Sure, Oedipus was destined to kill his father anyway, but the manner in which he did so gives an insight into his demeanor. Oedipus could have killed his father in any number of ways, but to do so in a fit of rage set off by so seemingly trivial of an event is just not rational. Murder may not have been as big of a deal at that time, but if Oedipus had tried that in today’s world, he would have either been executed or have been spending the rest of his life in a mental institution. This incident goes to show that Oedipus is a very rash and impulsive man, and this carries over into his administration and decision-making.

           He becomes convinced that Tiresias and Creon are plotting to overthrow him, though he has no evidence to prove it and thus insults the seer which was a great crime at that time because he let himself be ruled by his anger. When Teiresias announces to Oedipus that

As the play continues, we start to see a shift in Oedipus’s personality. This was due to the conclusion he makes based on the conversation him and the prophet Tiresias has. It mentions how Kreon, Oedipus brother-in-law, is plotting against him. “So? You come here? You have the nerve to face me in my own house? When you’re exposed as its master’s murderer? Caught trying to steal my kinship?” (Sophocles 500). Now, Oedipus is arrogant, he blames Kreon based off of the conclusion he jumps too. He gets discouraged from his role as a leader, he is irrational, angry and hot tempered, whereas, in the beginning,

When Oedipus hears that he is the killer, his pride is wounded for he cannot accept the truth. His judgment is so blurred that he also begins to view Creon as a traitor for using Tiresias. Creon’s words sum up Oedipus’s rage when he said, “Oedipus, your husband, he’s bent on a choice of punishments for me, banishment from the fatherland or death” (715-717). Jocasta is even surprised with Oedipus’s unusual character, as she said, “For the love of God, Oedipus, tell me too, what is it? Why this rage? You’re so unbending” (767-769). The reason why Oedipus pride is so wounded can be because his negative experiences with the Gods. As a baby, he was condemned to death, yet he survived and learned the horrible truth of his prophecy. In attempt to escape that life, he lost belief in the word of the gods because he refused that the prophecies should come true. This struggle between God and Oedipus only tears his moral beliefs as he has to be stone cold to survive his tribulations. This meant giving no consideration against people who presently posed a great threat to him.

In many countries around the world, ignorance carries a considerable weight in politics, households, between friends, and in other vicinities. This ignorance can be depicted as blindness of the mind. In the Greek philosopher Sophocles’ play, Oedipus the King, Oedipus’ family and friends share their blindness in the fact that they love Oedipus and don’t have a desire to know the truth of his ruined past. They keep things from Oedipus and end up withholding the actualities of life from themselves in the process. Sophocles urges the reader that the love people clutch to can cause people to lose sight of the truth. He then expands on the blindness, demonstrating the idea that when the truth comes out, it pulls the love a person feels for another into darkness with it. Love is fragile, and can be easily destroyed by the opening of the eye, causing families to crumble underneath.

(Question 2) Oedipus is a man of action, but he is also a man of temper. Oedipus bullies Tiresias into answering him. It is at this point that Tiresias reveals that Oedipus has killed the previous king, Laius. A pattern emerges regarding Oedipus ' behavior. He has a temper, but is also used to having his way. At one point Oedipus becomes extremely angry and accuses Tiresias of acting in collusion with his brother-in-law, Creon, to take the throne from Oedipus.

Clearly, the friend declared, Oedipus was aware that he alone was responsible for his actions.  Moreover, the friend also stressed the fact that if Oedipus was not responsible for his actions, then he could not be viewed as a tragic figure since he would be a mere puppet of fate or the gods.  I was not prepared to argue one so scholarly as my friend, so I stayed silent.  Roy, my roomate, and the friend then discussed whether Oedipus's explosive temper was a tragic flaw. The friend believed that his volatile temper was one factor that contributed to his downfall.  I cannot remember now the salient points of Roy's argument, but I do recall that I partook in the debate by urging my friend to look at Oedipus as a hero who was trying to assert his rights, as a hero who was trying to defend his honor, when he slew those who violated his right of way on that fateful day where the three highways came together:

Another aspect of Oedipus’s tragic flaw is his hubris. Initially it is clear Oedipus believes he is Thebe’s last hope, stating “I Oedipus whom all men call the Great” (Sophocles 6). Oedipus proves his hubris as he stands center-stage during almost the entire play. Creon tries to usher Oedipus off stage and tell him of the news, although Oedipus replies “Speak it to all: the grief I bear, I bear it more

status. Oedipus had a strong temper that was over his control which did not benefit him. After

Oedipus was a great man, and ruler but he was too cocky which was why it was so hard for him to accept the truth that lead to his tragic death. He gave the audience a preview of his arrogance when he first introduced himself as “the famous” as he was referred to even by those around him. However, because of his impacting image to everyone he was hard on himself when he let his people down by finding the truth of his birth and the life he had been living. Due to his feeling of letting his people down he felt that he disappointed his people who believed in him the most which was why he was so hard on himself. He was so uneasy that he caused harm to his own body and wanted everyone to disown him for which he already knew they would do. Although, Oedipus was overly confident he was a good and brave man who would do anything for his people even if

In the tragedy, Oedipus the king, by Sophocles, the main character Oedipus rules a city called Thebes. Oedipus, being a tragic hero, was always destined for disaster, but one of the major key parts that contributed to his downfall was his uncontrollable temper. As a child, he was destined, by Apollo, to marry his mother and murder his father. So he ran away from his hometown Corinth in attempt to avoid his destiny, but he unfortunately could not avoid it. He has always been a very angry and irritable person, but the most important parts of his life that determined his success or failure was always interrupted by his temper.