In the tragedy oedipus rex by sophocles, a man is determined to figure out his true identity, but finds a terrible fate. oedipus doesn't pay attention to anything until he starts to realize that something is going on with him. Then he finally realizes what is happening and takes the consequences of his actions. One theme in the play is blindness and sight, blindness can be physical or lack of understanding and sight can be physical or gain of understanding.
Oedipus can be compared with a person who is blind but eventually regained their sight.
At the beginning of the play, Oedipus is blind to his fate. Oedipus was blind to his fate because he didn’t think of himself being Laius's murder which was part of his fate. Even creon said “A man may find whatever he looks for, but misses what he does not.” (3) He’s saying that oedipus may find what he looks for but is blind to the truth. Oedipus also said “Then I shall start from the beginning and bring everything into the light.” (3) He was saying that he wanted to find out the truth but he didn’t find it. At this point in the play, oedipus was completely blind to the truth. That brings me into the middle of the play.
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Oedipus goes to tiresias and tiresias tells oedipus his fate. Oedipus said "If you only had eyes that could see, i'd think you accomplished the deed alone." (7) oedipus said that to tiresias because oedipus didn't want to accept the truth. Oedipus also said "because you are blind, not only in the eyes but in the ears and in your mind as well." (7) oedipus said that tiresias didn’t know what he was talking about. At this point in the play, oedipus was completely blind to the truth. That brings me into the end of the
He finds out that his mother is his wife and that he killed his father, The former king. Finding all of this out, Oedipus becomes his own prosecutor, and then his own judge and punisher. This story suggests that knowledge is vain and constrained in its capacity to convey happiness to the individuals who look for it. Sophocles certainly wasn’t timid about the symbol sight vs. blindness; words like
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
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).
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.
In Oedipus, the city of Thebes is suffering from a plague which was placed on them as revenge against the murderer of King Lauis. Oedipus is adamant about avenging the murderer until he realizes that the murderer is Oedipus himself. Oedipus was figuratively blind to the fact that he is the actual reason for the city’s suffering. The prophet Tiresias explains, “Blind who now has eyes, beggar who now is rich, he will grope his way toward a foreign soil, a stick tapping before him step by step.” Although Oedipus is now knowledgeable about the truth of his life, because of his blindness before, he has brought himself to complete and utter downfall.
(Sophocles 391-392). “…You have called me blind, but you have your eyes but see not where you are in sin. Do you know who your parents are? And of the multitude of other evils between you and you children, you know nothing” (Sophocles 432-452). In a rage Oedipus denies Tiresias’ words and claims to not know what he talks about due to
Master of Tragedies Neil Gaiman once said, “There’s none so blind as those who will not listen.” This quote relates to the theme of sight and blindness in “The Tragedy of Oedipus Rex”. King Oedipus was a man who would not accept the truth about himself. Physically he was not blind but in truth he was. There are three examples of Oedipus’s metaphysical condition of blindness which will be listed as follows.
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.
Oedipus denies the truth and faces the consequences later on in the play. He gets furious when everyone is blaming him for killing Laius. As he is blaming others, hubris appears within his personality. Oedipus becomes blinder as hubris takes over him.
Oedipus and his “precious eyes” which make him “blind to the corruption of [his life]” (Sophocles 1441-1442). The confusion comes with the idea that Oedius’ physical eyes are actually the thing that blind him. He is so focused on his present life that he is distracted from his past and what he did. This idea is later confirmed when he pokes out his own eyes and everything is slowly revealed; confusion becomes clarity (Sophocles
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
Every character in stories or in plays has their flaws and strengths; Oedipus is no exception to this. Oedipus has his strengths and weaknesses that shape him into the character he is perceived to be in the play. He is intellectual which is why the city looks up to him, he is caring, and tenacious. Like any other character Oedipus also has his flaws, he jumps to conclusions and makes rash decisions, he has anger issues, and hubris which eventually leads to his downfall. Intelligence is something that is highly respected in individuals, especially in leaders.
Tiresias reveals that Oedipus has been blind to the truth his whole life and when he finally does find the truth, he loses his physical vision. Due to the truth, Oedipus blinds himself. In this case, those who are blind ultimately do have a higher vision- the truth. The theme of sight versus blindness in Sophocles’ work Oedipus the King is portrayed through
Consequently, Oedipus’ blindness also creates an irony as he also believes that Tiresias is “blind,”
But, he was also a good man, father, husband, and king, and for this reason he is mourned over for his loss of fortune. One of the themes in Oedipus Rex is physical and metaphorical blindness. In Greek culture, those who were physically blind were said to have metaphorical "vision" and were messengers of the gods. For example, In the beginning, Oedipus is blind, not physically, but metaphorically because he does not know the