Sight And Blindness In Oedipus The King Essay

In the play, Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, an honourable and admirable Greek king named Oedipus rules the town of Thebes. He is left in mental turmoil and decay as his unknown, corrupt and immoral past is slowly revealed during his quest to find the culprit who murdered King Laius. The newly exposed past suddenly transforms his glory and respect into shame and humiliation. After he learns about his wicked past he stabs his eyes, which lead to his blindness. During the course of the play, references to blindness and vision constantly recur, giving the reader an enhanced and more insightful look into the themes of the play. Some themes that are expressed through these references include truth and knowledge, guilt, and freewill versus

Oedipus has been told that he would kill his father and marry his mother. When Oedipus heard this statement he refused to believe it. After hearing this Oedipus went to Corinth to figure out the truth. Oedipus gets caught in road rage with King Laius and little did he know that this was his father. Sight and blindness is seen through this scene because Oedipus is blind and does not see that he killed his father. Oedipus is denying the fact that he killed King Laius, also known as his father. Oedipus also shows ignorance by thinking he knows for a fact that he did not kill King Laius. Creon

Oedipus blinding himself symbolizes his increase of knowledge, his sensitivity, and gives him the ability to finally "see". He is now able to see the flaws of his hubris attitude, and the consequences of which his pride brought to him. From the very beginning, Oedipus was blinded by pride. With the city of Thebes dying, Creon comes from the god Apollo to tell how to stop

King Oedipus’ problem is that he is too arrogant. His arrogance is what causes him to be “blind”. Not knowing he was the killer of Laius made him blind. He was also blind to the fact that Jocasta, his wife, who actually his mom, and Laius was his dad. Although people kept dropping hints to him, but his ignorance and his overbearing attitude didn’t allow him to see the truth. For instance, a blind prophet named Tiresias tried to point out to Oedipus who the killer was, hoping he’d catch on. While having a conversation about the killer with the seer Tiresias, Oedipus states, “All right King, you mock my blindness…You think you know your parents, but you are blind to the fact that you are their worst enemy!” (Oedipus the King 46). Even though the blind prophet basically told him everything, his arrogance got in his way. Therefore, Oedipus is torn when he finds out about his parents.

In the beginning, Oedipus is told by Teiresias that he lives in shame. Of course, Oedipus feels that Teiresias is blind of not only sight, but knowledge:

Often in the story the theme of sight versus blindness is addressed, between Tiresias the blind soothsayer and Oedipus, as well as the climax of the story

One of the many symbols Sophocles portrays throughout the play is sight and blindness. Sight represents how Oedipus had eyesight, but was still “blind” to the truth of himself throughout most of the play. He was both hesitant and unaware of the events that built up to

Unwillingly, Teiresias the blind seer provides Oedipus with the hurtful truth. Although before the truth is announced, Oedipus describes Teiresias as a "seer: student of mysteries." Oedipus looks to Teiresias for help in finding the murderer of the former king. He is trusted and respected by everyone in the city as evidenced by his introduction as "the holy prophet In whom, alone of all men, truth was born." Yet, when Teiresias speaks, reluctantly but honestly to Oedipus, he is shunned and his credibility and motives are attacked. Oedipus

He also shows care for the health and well-being of his family. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has learned about the plague and how the reason for it affecting the bees is that the killer of Laios has not been found or punished. This deeply bothers Oedipus as he says, “Listen. Follow me on Twitter @Melissa. Join me in fighting this sickness, this plague, and all your suffering may end, like a dark sky, suddenly clear, blue, after a week of storms, soothing the torn face of the sea, soothing our fears.

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

In Oedipus Rex many characters are blinded metaphorically. This inhibits them to see the truth and to be able to see what is right in front of them. It can cause them to make unwise decisions. Oedipus was a character that was blindsided the most in the play.

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

Oedipus intelligence could not see the truth, but the blind man, Teiresias, saw it plainly. Sophocles uses blindness as a theme in the play. Oedipus was uninformed and as a result blind to the truth about himself and his past. Yet, when Teiresias exposes the truth he is in denial. It is left to Oedipus to conquer his blindness, accept the truth, and realize fate. But instead Oedipus ridicules Terirsias blindness and accuses him of being on the side of Kreon and helping him become King. He accuses Teiresias for being paid to tell a fraudulent prophecy to him. Quickly Teiresias answers him back and tells him he is BLIND, and tells him about his past of who his actual mother and father was.

Oedipus the King by Sophocles’ is intertwined with many powerful themes and messages, establishing what real vision and real sight are. Sophocles’ play also demonstrates that sometimes in life we have to experience great loss in order to rediscover our true selves. In Oedipus’s quest for truth, lack of self-control, ignorance and tragic self-discovery prevail. Physical vision does not necessarily guarantee insight, nor impart truth. Intertwined with dramatic and cosmic irony, all of these elements contribute to the major theme of blindness and sight, depicting wisdom

When the priest says, “You came to Thebes, you freed us from the tax we paid with our lives to that rasping Singer...we need now the great power men everywhere know you possess. Find some way to protect us”(41-50), it exhibits how great of a leader and hero he was to the city. The deeper he searched for the man to end this plague, however, the more horrid it got. The more information he received, he began to connect the pieces from his past. Not only did he figure out the man he killed on the path was king Laios, but it was his biological father. His fear of the prophecy that the oracle told him was becoming true. play gets even more tragic as he realizes that the queen he had four children with was his mother, who kill herself before he finds the truth. Oedipus gauged his eyes outs after seeing her dead body. Oedipus was blinded from the truth his entire life. When he finally learned the truth about himself, it blinds him.