Causes Of Blindness In Oedipus Rex

When Teiresias refuses to name the murderer, however, we see the other side of Oedipus, a hot-tempered man who cannot bear to be denied what he wants. He taunts Teiresias with his blindness and makes irrational accusations against both Teiresias and Creon. Later, when the old servant also tries to avoid answering Oedipus' questions, Oedipus threatens him with torture."Oedipus went so far as to accuse him of keeping silence because he himself taken part in the murder"(Hamilton271).Thats when Oedipus tells Jocasta that, on his way to Thebes, he killed a man who struck at him in the road. So it's clear what his tragic flaw is, and his impulsive,violent temper can even be seen as an

Everyone tries to convince themselves that it is all lies when you receive bad news about anything that you don’t believe in. In the play Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles in 430 BC, Oedipus is in denial about who killed the previous king, Laius. The town has asked Oedipus to save them from the disease that has spread killing all the life in town by finding the person who killed Lauis. Oedipus tells the people he will find the culprit and do whatever he needs to do to punish them. When he is given the truth, he is unwilling to accept the truth. Therefore, he will have to punish himself as he promised the people of the town.

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.

It is often said that pride comes before a down fall, but pride must first trip over the truth The downfall of Oedipus is due to flaws in his character. Throughout the play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, Oedipus’s character has led him to make judgements that were not in his best interest. These flaws are pride, leading to overconfidence and having poor judgement. Oedipus character also show determination which throughout the play also became a flaw as well. The character of Oedipus is ruled by fate. The tragic hero is unable to escape his fate that was spoken over his life to happen. Even though Oedipus has chosen his own actions, the consequences he is sure to face have become undeniable and cannot be changed. Due to the flaws in his character, the king will fall from the good graces of those who once believed in him.

Throughout the story Oedipus’ pride is challenged. This shows that Oedipus is prideful and arrogant. He thinks that his past experiences are better than everybody else's. He thinks that he is above the gods and their prophecies. In the end this leads to Oedipus’ pride leading him to fulfill the prophecy he was trying to

Teiresias visits the city of Thebes and reveals the truth about why there is so destruction in the city. As the truth is coming out, Oedipus becomes blind toof what Teiresias is saying to him. He becomes very prideful and doesn’t want to believe the truth that is being revealed to him and his people. After Oedipus argues and insults Teiresias, he claims, “I have saved this land from ruin. I am content” (38). After his final words, Oedipus strongly proves to be a prideful man. He is ignorant to the truth. This seemsproves to be his fatal flaw during the play. Overall, while Oedipus hears the truth unraveling in front of him, he is too full of himself to actually realize everything being said is

Oedipus’ impetuous behavior is another trait that eventually leads him to his downfall. While having a rash and short-tempered manor it seemed to have caused him to make bad judgment calls. Including when he accused Tiresias of being a part of the murder. The reason why being because Tiresias would not answer the questions the Oedipus asked. Oedipus then goes on, over exaggerating his speech towards Tiresias saying, “Did you rise to the crisis? Not a word, you and your birds, your gods-nothing. No, but I came along Oedipus the ignorant, I stopped the sphinx! With no help from the birds, the flight of my own intelligence hit the mark” (Lines 449-453). Following this quote, Oedipus ignores Tiresias’ warnings to not pursue the killer; if he did he

Ignorance is bliss. However, in Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, Oedipus is a complex character that seeks the truth but not the truth about himself. Throughout the story, his character’s behavior brings many conflicts and struggles between the characters. Each time the King is confronted by a challenge, his choice in behavior causes him more problems than it resolves. Instead of stepping back and evaluating the situation and getting all the facts, Oedipus jumps to wild conclusions and unjustly accuses others of conspiring against him. While all along deep inside of him he has a feeling in his gut that there is some truth to what he is being told. He is very arrogant, quick to anger and ready to blame others before

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. First his denial of being the source of the plague. Second, his egotistical abilities that will form his plot to change his fate. And lastly, the consequences of his denial that will lead him to his physical and emotional destruction. It would seem that in this case, Oedipus’s fate is his own enemy.

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:

Just as Oedipus becomes king his pride and confidence in himself grows. The people look at him as some kind of savior because he has defeated the king. This basically makes his ego 10 times bigger. He also is very denying of his fate. The terrible irony in this story is that everytime he tries to do the right thing, it brings about his destruction. He can’t win for losing. He is his own worst

Oedipus becomes an arrogant tyrant, convinced that he rises nearly to the level of the gods because he was the only mortal who could kill the Sphinx and free Thebes from its destruction. The gods punish Oedipus’ sins with the horrific agony and humiliation that he wished on the cursed soul who killed the King Laius, not realizing that he himself was the guilty party and would suffer the curses he uttered.

To conclude, Oedipus is the only circumstance on why he is responsible for his horrendous fate. In the 1st two body paragraphs, Oedipus is revealed to committing awful decisions and to disobey of people’s orders due to his stubbornness and arrogant behavior. In the last body paragraph, he begs for sorrow as he is aware he is accountable for the murder of Laius and the marriage to his mother as he plays a key part in all of them. “It often happens that things are other than what they seem, and you can get yourself into trouble by jumping to conclusions.”-Paul

Truth is one of the most desirable things. Yet, often times humans can not tell the difference between lies and reality. Living under a falsehood would seem normal to people living on a lie for it is the truth to them. Sophocles and Steven Spielberg emphasize this point in their literature: Oedipus the King and Minority Report. The truth can shatter a human's illusion about the world they are living in . The main characters from both pieces of literature were utterly blinded by their ambitions, that they didn't expect the truth to change their views of themselves and of the world around them.

Another tragedy of Oedipus as a tragic hero was that he was a proud man, who thinks he knew it all and would not listen to anyone. One of his greatest acts of hubris was that he denies his fate of the oracle and defy the prophecies of the gods that later came to reality, and despite his growing up in Corinth he was a son of the land of Thebes. Likewise, the prophecy was still to come into existence since he did not only overlooked his fate; he did whatever he wants to as the king of the