Oedipus Blindness

Sophocles has been known for using his plays not merely to entertain his audience, but to deliver a message too. Out of all of the important lessons in his plays, arrogance and ignorance will not get you anywhere. This relates to the theme of blindness, Oedipus Rex has outlined many themes throughout the play, but the theme of blindness is probably one of the most important concepts. The author uses physical blindness, as well as intellectual blindness to illustrate Oedipus' personal tragedy. The concept of blindness can be shown through the relationship between Oedipus and Teiresias. Teiresias is the physical representation of blindness at the beginning of the story. Even though he appears to be blind, he can actually see the truth, for he has prophetic

Teiresias tells Oedipus that he "cannot see the evil" (1264) and says to him "You mock my blindness do you? But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind" (1266). This intensifies the fact that Oedipus is ignorant to the truth. Teiresias, a blind prophet, can "see" the truth about Oedipus, and yet Oedipus, with his perfect physical sight, cannot see this truth. Later in the play, Oedipus realizes the truth about his past. Oedipus can now see the truth clearly, and yet he still does not want to accept it or "see" it. Therefore, to rid himself of this truth, Oedipus physically blinds himself, saying "No more shall you look on the misery about me...too long [you have] been blind to those for whom I was searching" (1288). This malicious act is Oedipus' way of escaping from reality. From the play, one may discover that one of Oedipus' tragic flaws is his "blindness" or unwillingness to see the truth. Sophocles uses ironic examples of this blindness throughout the play to clue the audience in to the main cause of the tragedy in Oedipus' life. By using these