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Theme Of Sight In Oedipus

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In the story of Oedipus, there is a terrible curse that has fallen upon the city of Thebes, and the only way to expell it is to find out who killed their former ruler, King Laius. Now that Oedipus is in charge, he makes it his one and only goal to find out who killed Laius in order to save the city and his people. He brings forward innocent people, threatens them, and puts himself before everyone else to find out who holds the blame. However, Oedipus is oblivious to the fact that he is the man that he is looking for. This is where the symbolism of sight emerges in the story. The repetitive theme of sight is mentioned with Oedipus, Jocasta, and Tiresias (the blind prophet). Furthermore, there are two sides to this idea, both sight and …show more content…

Truth is not in you---for yours ears, your mind, your eyes are blind!” (169). As soon as Oedipus becomes even slightly aware of the idea that he could be to blame, he turns it right back on to someone else, in this case an innocent man. Whether they can see or not, the other people of Thebes are looking out for the best interest of Oedipus when looking to tell him the truth. Similarly, Sophocles cleverly has Oedipus mock the blind man for being blind, because it shows his stubbornness to avoiding his own problems and menacing on others instead. Additionally, his unwillingness to blame himself helps to show how the gift of sight is not always what is able to find the truth. Tiresias is blind, yet he knows more than any man with sight, and Sophocles shows that the physical ability to see can often be a misconception, as once people find out they are the one to blame, they pretend as though they can no longer see. Once Oedipus has gotten a glimpse from multiple characters that he might be the one responsible, he still turns the other way. The truth is so close from his reach, and he is very capable of saving his city, yet he remains in the darkness. Sophocles uses Oedipus's inability to find out the truth to prove that Oedipus is blind to both the consequences and rewards of his actions. If Oedipus is able to discover the truth, then his city will be saved, although he will be forced to sacrifice himself for the punishment of the murder. However,

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