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Insanity In Sophocles Three Theban Play

2081 Words9 Pages

Within Hamlet, we are given an example of what insanity is, and how it comes into being. Insanity is shown to be erratic emotions as well as fits of angry outbursts and calm actions. But is the insanity that overcomes Hamlet unique, or is it the general definition of insanity? To explore insanity further, we must look at another example of a seemingly insane character. In Sophocles’ Three Theban Plays, he tells the story of Oedipus, the king of Thebes. After Oedipus gouges out his eyes, a chorus member comments: “I never encountered a worse horror! Poor wretch, what madness came upon you? What evil spirit leaped upon your life” (1300-1302). The chorus draws attention to the nature of Oedipus’ violent action, even to the extent of questioning if it is the work of an ‘evil spirit’. Before this action, Oedipus is a rational, calm leader, but something changed to drive him to that state of madness. A question arises from this madness, …show more content…

Oedipus screams about his misfortunes while calling out to a ‘you’, the ‘you’ addressed in his speech is himself, or further, his own eyes. Oedipus, by removing the one thing used to see, allows himself to not only be incapable of sight but also to become blind to the actions of which he did or were done unto him. His eyes, the things that previously deceived him, being so unclear as to allow him to kill his father and marry his mother are trusted by him, for they are the things that should show him the truth of the world around him. As his eyes are an extension of himself, Oedipus blames the misfortunes he suffers on himself, taking out his rage on the things that allowed him to be blind to the truth. He trusted himself and what he saw, but by not seeing the truth, his own vision turned on

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