Ignorance And Ignorance In Oedipus The King

The Greek drama “Oedipus The King” evidently leads to the unveiling of a tragedy. Oedipus, the protagonist of the play uncovers his tragic birth story and the curse he had been baring his whole life. Oedipus is notorious for his personal insight that helped him defeat Sphinx, which lead him to becoming the king of Thebes. He is admired by the people of Thebes and is considered to be a mature, inelegant and a rational leader. From his birth, his story began with a prophecy that Oedipus would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Through out the play numerous people, who tell him of his unknown past, visit Oedipus. Blind to the truth he casts them away until a blind man named Therisis gives a sight of truth to Oedipus. As Oedipus learns the truth he realizes the great evil his life carries. After finding his wife and also mother hung in her bedroom, Oedipus blinds himself with the gold pins that held Jocasta’s robe. Oedipus blind to the truth is finally able to see when the old blind man visits him and tells him the truth about his life. Both metaphorically and physically sight plays a significant role in understanding the irony of a blind man seeing the truth while Oedipus who isn’t blind doesn’t seem to the truth that’s right in front of him.

“You came and by your coming saved our city, freed us from the tribute which we paid of old to the Sphinx, cruel singer”(39-41), This tells us Oedipus’ pasts and how his insight helped him become king of Thebes. “Not twice you shall say calumnies like this and stay unpunished”(417-418), Here Oedipus claims that Teiresias accusing him of the murder is wrong and impossible. Due to his ignorance, Oedipus believes that Creon and Teiresias are plotting to overthrow him from the throne. Even later in the play there is a point when he absentmindedly remarks, "Strange, hearing you just now . . . my mind wandered, my thoughts racing back and forth”(800-802), where he is maybe considering that he may actually be the murderer. Yet Oedipus does not blame himself for the plague of the city, instead he tries to place the burden onto others as he continues his investigation, blindly trusting his own superior ability while ignoring the obvious evidence that surrounds him. Continuing the metaphor of sight and blindness, Sophocles uses it to shows how Oedipus is unwilling to accept his true fate and is blinded, and ignorant to his past actions. This also brings about irony due to the fact that Oedipus was made famous in Thebes for his keen insight, by solving the riddle of the Sphinx, but is unable to clearly see his current

With his great knowledge and accomplishment establishing him as a man of insight and honor he is crowned King of Thebes. Oedipus, unwilling to hear or see truth, smites a blind man in the midst of his own ignorance and denial to reality. Teiresias, a blind prophet, is stood before Oedipus to reveal his visions about the identity of the murderer. “PAGE 11/40 TEIRESIAS thou hast not spared To twit me with my blindness--thou hast eyes, Yet see'st not in what misery thou art fallen, Nor where thou dwellest nor with whom for mate. Dost know thy lineage? Nay, thou know'st it not, And all unwitting art a double foe...” Teiresias reveals Oedipus' fate to him. He reveals that Oedipus doesn't know who his true parents are, and is living a doubly bad fate. Oedipus becomes engaged and accusatory of Teiresias at the thought of someone threatening his preconceived reality. “PAGE 10/40 OEDIPUS There is strength where there is truth, but not in you Oedipus. You don't possess this quality, for you are blind in your ears, mind, and eyes.” Oedipus even goes as far as to suggest that Teiresias murdered King Laius. “PAGE 10/40 OEDIPUS Thou methinks thou art he, I think that you are he who planned this crime, and he who even committed it too..” Oedipus, self righteous and pompous, believes that he can do no wrong. His ego is so big that he tears down and slanders

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.

In the play Oedipus has qualities such as caring and being loyal to the people of his city. The play begins with a plague in which the people of Thebes are encountering. Oedipus who is the king is well aware and worried of this terrible event is trying to do whatever it takes to find a solution. The people in Thebes believe in their king since they’ve already witnessed how he rescued their city in an occasion. “Oedipus, we need now the great power men everywhere know you posses. Find some way to protect us learn it from a god’s whisper or a man’s” (pg. 487). Oedipus knows his people are counting on him and as a result his attitude is one of a leader, arrogant, authoritative, confident, intelligent, determined, and compassionate. Once Oedipus uncovers the solution to end the plague is to find the murdered of former king Laios he is determined to do this and no one will stop him. Tiresias the prophet offers an answer to Oedipus’ quest, but his response to the prophet’s prophecy is a disbelieving and offensive one. “Wealth and a king’s power, the skill that wins every time how much envy, what malice they provoke. To rob me of power, power I didn’t

Celebrated writer and dramatist, Sophocles, in his drama, Oedipus the King, illustrates the theme of ignorance. Ignorance is seen throughout the entire drama and controls many of Oedipus’ decisions leading to his final fate. His purpose is to convey the idea that pride and self-assuredness is not better than knowledge. Sophocles adopts a foreboding tone in order to convey to his readers that ignorance is not always bliss.

If there ever was a situation that absolutely required personal bias, it would be this one: blissful ignorance versus potential painful truth. In my experience, the truth can wound just as easily as a sword. Oedipus is just one such example. The truth is painful, affects more than just the person seeking the truth, and occasionally ruins lives. Based on the fate of Oedipus, it seems that blissful ignorance is definitely the way to live one’s life.

Because he had deciphered the Sphinx’s riddle, the intelligent Oedipus was classified as “the best at guessing riddles,” yet he could not see the truth that was staring him in the face (Sophocles 30). He had killed the previous king. Although Tiresias had told him plainly that he was the murderer, Oedipus did not believe him and went even further to blame Creon for the murder. How could he have been so blind? When the king began to finally realize his misconception, he exclaimed, “Oh God! I think I have just called down on myself a dreadful curse-not knowing what I did” (Sophocles 53). The ruler of Thebes enjoyed an abundance of knowledge; however he experienced a severe deficit in his ability to understand the reality right in front of

All throughout Oedipus the King, Sophocles has Oedipus on an unknown journey from ignorance to knowledge. Oedipus believes that he has nothing to do with the murder of King Laius even though the truth is laid out in front of him multiple times. As the story goes on, Oedipus begins to become more open-minded to new information that has an unknown cost. Therefore, through the journey to recognition, the once great and powerful Oedipus, can cause his own demise. Sophocles demonstrates that ignorance will blind one from the truth and knowledge will open one's eyes.

In the opening scene of the first play in the trilogy, Oedipus the King, Sophocles depicts Oedipus as a man of great stature, ruling his lands justly but hints at his own catastrophic fate condemned by his overly arrogant conduct. Initially, Oedipus exhibits intelligence, love and concern for his subjects, and deep-rooted wisdom, upholding a reputation of high moral standards. His wisdom, however, becomes self-righteous, his arrogance becoming very clear on the eighth line of his opening monologue, “Here I am – myself – you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus. ” (159). The irony of this statement rests behind the notion that Oedipus’s fame will be known and surpass the ages, but it is

     The heart of the story unravels when Oedipus apparently begins to suffer a reversal of fortunes. At the beginning of the play, Oedipus is referred to by the priest as the “king of the land, [the city of Thebes’] greatest power” (16). Through all of Thebes he is thought of as a hero, a man who saved the city from the Sphinx and in his bravery has promised to find the killer of King Laius in order to save the city from doom and death. However, at the climax of the story Oedipus learns that he has been “cursed in [his] birth, cursed in marriage / and cursed in

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).

Initially, Oedipus remains in a state of ignorance throughout the establishment of the tragedy by virtue of his strong characteristics that include pride, ego, and obliviousness. In the drama, Oedipus speaks about what would happen if the killer was a royal member of Thebes. The play reads, “If by any chance / he proves to be an inmate of our house, / here at my hearth, with my full knowledge, / may the curse i just called down strike me” (284-287). Oedipus placed a cure throughout the distinguished city of Thebes in hopes to lead it back to its once former glory. This shows his ignorance in view of the fact that he is the one who killed the former King Laius, which means Oedipus cursed himself. His ego of trying to be the savior once again put Oedipus in a terrible position for the continuation of his life. Furthermore, Oedipus sent for a prophet to help discover who the mysterious

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.

is a trait viewed as being favorable to a character at first, but it leads to their later downfall. It was often used in ancient Greek tragedies to show that mankind was susceptible to flaw. This was present in Sophocles 's tragedy, Oedipus the King. The protagonist of the tragedy,Oedipus, was not exempt from his own flaws. Oedipus’s traits of excessive pride and desire for knowing the truth were advantageous to him in the beginning, yet were the very things that contributed to his tragic downfall.