Examples Of Blindness In Oedipus The King

In the Greek play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the tragic hero, Oedipus, acts upon his predetermined fate of incest and patricide, and comes to a realization followed by a disastrous self-destruction. The theme of blindness is frequently revisited throughout the play, acting as a catalyst for Oedipus’ downfall. Sophocles utilizes the contrast between literal and figurative blindness in order to intensify the catastrophic aspect of the tragedy, primarily by evoking pity for Oedipus’ lack of knowledge. Tiresias, the prophet of Apollo whom Oedipus summons to acquire solutions for the plague in Thebes, is a character with literal blindness but a contrastingly discerning insight. Tiresias has a different type of eye compared to others; his eyes were

Tiresias points out that Oedipus is unaware of his fate and history, which he refuses to believe in. As Oedipus fails to foresee the near future and continues to inquire of Tiresias, Tiresias asks him why he vainly seeks this (Sophocles 345-6) and claims that “[his] own [anger], / living within [him], [he] does not see” (Sophocles 350-1). This demonstrates that both Oedipus’ eager search for the culprit out of curiosity and his rage contribute to blinding him from the future. Despite Tiresias’ advice to stop seeking for the truth, Oedipus gets mad that he and Creon are conspiring against himself, and continues to coerce him to reveal the oracle. Through the repetition of possessive language, “own” and “living within him”, Tiresias claims that as much as Oedipus is expressing anger, anger possesses Oedipus and is controlling him to fall further into the pit of blindness. Some may say, in a modern understanding, that no one can accurately predict the future; therefore, everyone is sightless of their future. However, what primarily makes Oedipus blind is the excessive confidence in his knowledge. His overconfidence is shown when he assures that he “will not be caught as slayer” (Sophocles 594), and he is “a stranger to both report and victim” (Sophocles 214). Therefore, Oedipus’ blindness was intensified by his hubris of volatility and his downfall was accelerated by his

Oedipus, solving the riddle of the Sphinx and becoming the great king and savior of Thebes, has a deep hero complex that he is so powerful and must resolve all problems of the city himself. His hubris leads to impulsive actions such as blaming Creon for trying to overthrow him— despite his overbearing pride, he is insecure about the stability of his position. Moreover, Oedipus holds hubris against the gods: he regards himself as one more powerful than the gods who, in fact, have decided his entire destiny. He is arrogant in thinking that he could easily avoid his fate by leaving his fatherland, Corinth. Oedipus also insists that “[he] stopped [the Sphinx], / working from intellect, not learning from birds” (Sophocles 411-2). As the ‘birds’ represent the gods’ message for prophecy, by saying he didn't rely on them, Oedipus believes that he is intellectually above the gods. Thus, Oedipus is blind of the fact that, as any other human being, life is not fully controllable. This blindness has negatively impacted him— from an ancient perspective, not appreciating the gods stimulated their rage and has always led to catastrophic consequences in the ancient world; on a personal level, his realization of the change of position from a hero to a powerless individual would have been particularly shocking and hopeless. The moral of Oedipus Rex, that one must not be complacent