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Sophocles Ability To See In Oedipus The King

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Oedipus the king is a story that has many themes within itself that could teach a valuable lesson to others. One of the main themes in this story is that of having the ability to see, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. There are many times in the story where different characters address this problem but mostly everyone is too blind to notice. One of the characters who can see the truth but ironically can't physically cant see, is that of Tiresias, the blind prophet. He is the one who could see the truth all along but everyone chose to be blind and not put the facts together to see the truth about Oedipus and his true identity.
Although Oedipus himself can see throughout most of the play, he still remains blind to the truth. In the story, he is trying to find out who is tiresias killer and tries to pinpoint every single clue he gets. What he doesn't realize is that he himself is the killer, which leads him to reveal the entire truth of his …show more content…

The Chorus addresses this when he states in lines 1340-1350, “but now for all your power time, all-seeing time has dragged you to the light, judged your marriage monstrous from the start- the son and the father tangling, both one- o child of laius, would to god. Id never seen you, never, never! Now i weep like a man who wails the dead and the dirge comes pouring forth with all my heart! I tell you the truth, you gave me life my breath leapt up in you and now you bring down the night upon my eyes”. The Chorus, along with everyone else, figures out everything about Oedipus’ true identity and threat he is the child of Laius and Jocasta. When he talks about the all seeing time, he is saying how through time and patience, everything would eventually be revealed, which did happen after a long time. Everyone was blind enough to realize who he was up until Oedipus got

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He blind because of his arrogance. After the plague hits Thebes, Oedipus orders to see Tiresias and when he does he lets his arrogance get in the way. Once he became arrogant he blamed Tiresias. Tiresias they replied, “All right, King: you mock my blindness. Hear me well: you have your

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446 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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In the argument between tiresias and oedipus,. Oedipus, who has the physical ability to see believes he can uncover the truth of his life, however his hubris leads him to trust his own superior knowledge and in doing so he mocks Tiresias for his obscenities regarded towards him and refers to him as “ a blind man lost in the night”(425-426). However with the dramatic irony that Sophocles presents throughout the novel the assumption can be made that although Oedipus is very brilliant he is truly the blind man, when his hubris is present it causes him to place the burden of guilt onto others. It takes the blind prophet Tiresias to point out just how ignorant Oedipus is by mocking him for his “precious eyes which are blind to the corruption of [his] life”, as well as his intelligence that allowed him to solve the riddle of the Sphinx, regarding him as “the best man alive for solving riddles” (470-472,501). All these insights lead Oedipus into doubting his true

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But now in a reversed position, Oedipus is a man that is physically blind but in truth is not. All things considered, Oedipus was in denial and was blinded from truth. As he came closer to the truth he finds himself praying that the prophecy will not come true. His earnestness causes a panic within him that leads him to abuse his power into changing his destiny. But as a result, all thing must come to an end especially Oedipus’s physical sight.

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Oedipus became blind by trying to escape his fate, as well as the pride and arrogance he had developed. In the text the author states, “And if this killer lives within my house, and if I know him, then may I myself receive the curse I just now laid upon his head” (43).

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Oedipus’ lack of knowledge leads to his blindness to the truth in Thebes because he thought he was better than everyone else because he solved the Sphinx riddle. Oedipus will then go on to be King of Thebes and marry Jocasta and at the time he didn’t know that Jocasta was his mother. He would also take the place of King Louis, his father, who which he killed in the beginning of the story. Once Oedipus becomes king he makes a promise to his people that he would find the murderer and kick him out of Thebes and no one would be able to help him.

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The symbolic implication that comes of Oedipus blinding himself is he has seen too much evil and would rather see nothing than more evil. “What’s there left for me to see…?” P.44 Oedipus here say he has seen too much and that what he has seen will taint everything he sees thereafter. I do not find this courageous nor heroic, I believe blinded himself to not see what he had done, to not be reminded of his deeds, even by seeing his

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Oedipus’ accusations against Tiresias suggest that Oedipus views Tiresias’ blindness as lack of integrity and ability to decipher the truth. By the end of play, Oedipus has stabbed both of his eyes with his mother’s brooch, rendering him permanently blind. Oedipus’ new found blindness is branded a divine punishment. As Oedipus is describing the rationale for his actions, he expresses, “And with these eyes have looked upon my father Or on my mother; such things have I done To them, death is no worthy punishment Or could I look for pleasure in the sight Of my own children, barn at

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Oedipus experienced blindness figuratively and eventually literally. The concept of sight and blindness in Oedipus Rex teaches many lessons. One lesson is that seeing something is based on one’s perspective, therefore it will not always be experienced the same way among different people. It depends on the way people perceive the information they receive.

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With the heroic light the people of Thebes have him under, he gladly baths in it. In an obstinate fashion he tells his subjects he will rid the kingdom of the plague by finding King Laius’ killer and goes forth to do so. This leads him to look to Tiresias, a prophetic man without sight. Oedipus then commands to get answers that will help him uncover the mystery of the death of the previous King. Tiresias respectively rejects to answering the questions remembering his place but Oedipus forges on his path for answers and an argument ensues: “…You are blind in mind and ears as well as in your eyes”

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Having been given many hints in his life, Oedipus cannot detect and know the truth. He is blind, to the extent that he could not even understand his life and does not even want to accept his origin. In this way, we get to know the contrast between eyesight and insight (Calame, 1996). After Oedipus realizing and coming to know the truth, he gets out his eyes so as to have the vision (Calame, 1996). He removes his eyes so as not to see his children and siblings who would remind him of his actions.

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First, he was blind to the truth about his own life. Oedipus had no idea that his real parents were Laius and Jocasta, he was so blind that he got mad at anyone that would even suggest an idea such as that. As the story went on though, Oedipus could no longer run from the truth; he was forced to open his eyes to the reality and truth of his life. Oedipus killed his father and married his mother; he is the brother to his own kids and the son of his own mother. Oedipus was the one that was causing all of the downfall and bad times in Thebes.

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448 Words | 2 Pages

Jocasta finds out that Oedipus is also her son. When she found out about Oedipus being her child, Jocasta “ ‘broken in through the gates, dashing past us, frantic, whipped to fury, ripping her hair out with both hands--straight to her rooms she rushed, flinging herself across the bridal-bed. . .’ “ (315). Jocasta dashes into her room because she is frighten to the fact that Oedipus is her son. Jocasta not accepting that Oedipus is her son and husband means that she is hiding from the truth.

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825 Words | 4 Pages

As an unfortunate result, he was constantly becoming ever more blind throughout the passage. In Oedipus

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So in the end, Oedipus no longer thinks of himself. Thinking of his children 's impending marriage, Oedipus begs for his children and no longer can think of himself as anything more than a creature that embodies what it means to be pathetic: “When you come to the age ripe for marriage, who will he be who will run the risk, children, to take for himself the reproaches that will be banes for my parents and offspring alike? What evil is absent? Your father slew his father; he ploughed his mother, where he himself was sown, and he sired you in the same fount where he himself was sired.

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