The Blindness Of Oedipus vs The Sight of Teiresias
In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus wishes to avenge his city by finding and exiling the killer of the former king, Laios’s killer. Oedipus asks Teiresias who the killer was, or at least for a hint in the right direction. At first, Teiresias refused to tell him but after Oedipus insisted, he finally relented. Teiresias was a blind man but knew that Oedipus was actually the murderer, while the king’s arrogance blinded him from seeing the truth.
Teiresias is a blind seer, which is rather ironic. He can see the truth about things, but cannot see physically. He does not want to weigh Oedipus down with the knowledge of his situation. When he is led into the scene, he immediately tells the king this. There is a
…show more content…
Finally, Teiresias caves and tells Oedipus that he is “the pollution of [their] country”(19). He is the murderer of Laios. Oedipus is appalled by the very idea. He calls Teiresias senseless and sightless, a “child of endless night!” and tells him “You can not hurt me/Or any other man who sees the sun.”(21). This is an ironic statement because the king seems to be under the impression that he is the one who can see the reality of the situation, with his analogy of the seer with