Oedipus the King Analysis

Oedipus the King is a tragic play, written by Sophocles that develops the important theme of blindness, through King Oedipus’ personal story. It takes place in an ancient Greek city called Thebes, and begins with a king named Oedipus who has just taken over. The previous king, Laius, was murdered just prior to Oedipus’ arrival. He is married to the widowed queen of Thebes, Jocasta, and rules for some time before disaster hits the city. Oedipus soon learns he must find Laius’ murderer if he is to save
Thebes, but this proves to be a much more difficult task than expected. He finds he must dig deeper into his mysterious past to find the answers he desires. In the play Oedipus the King, Sophocles uses the theme of blindness through Oedipus’ lack of knowledge of his past, the warnings of the blind prophet,
Jocasta’s denial of the truth, and Oedipus’ physically making himself blind, to prove that revealing the truth does not outweigh the pain of self-discovery. The darkness that covers Oedipus’ past makes him unable to let go of it, and causes him to delve deeper into what the gods had never intended for him to discover. Oedipus and the little he knows about his past brings out irony very often in the play. At the beginning when the murder of Laius is being discussed Oedipus says, “I never saw the man myself” (121). This statement is a symbol of blindness through the irony it contains. Oedipus was not only the murderer of Laius he is also his son, and therefore directly oblivious to the fact that he has seen Laius a number of times. This ironic blindness is also apparent when Oedipus declares, “I order you, every citizen of the state…banish this man, whoever he may be” (269-270). Here, he is banishing the murderer of Laius, which means he is banishing himself. This deadly order is only preparing Oedipus’ fate for horror and pain. In this case,
Sophocles seems as if he is trying to prove that it would be better for Oedipus to never discover the truth about his past, saving him from the pain of self-discovery. The blind prophet, Tiresias, cautions Oedipus to discontinue his search for the truth, for the suffering it will bring will occur regardless. Although, Tiresias is physically blind his visions are all true, revealing that he can see far better than Oedipus can with his eyes. Once Oedipus finally pries the information out of Tiresias, he is appalled at what he hears. In denial, Oedipus accuses Tiresias of being blind not only to physical vision but his own prophecies. Tiresias then argues, “You mock me of my blindness? Let me tell you this you with your precious eyes, you’re blind to the corruption of your life”
(469-471). This quote symbolizes the very reason Sophocles includes Tiresias as a character in the play.
It reveals that Oedipus is the one who is blind, and he has no idea what corruption has been concealed from his vision. This corruption is far too horrible for any one man to endure, and Tiresias proves that
Oedipus will never be ready to discover it. He knows though, that no matter what, it will happen, and the tragedy that is Oedipus the king will only cause trouble when revealed. Jocasta’s apparent denial of what is concealed by Oedipus’ blindness, and her begging him not to look further into his past, shows that truth is often not worth being brought to light. In her final scene with Oedipus Jocasta’s greatest fears have become a reality. She knows all too well that if
Oedipus journeys one step further into his past the truth will be revealed. She tells Oedipus, “Stop-in the name of god, if you love your own life, call off this search! My suffering is enough” (163-164).
Jocasta is pleading to Oedipus to just end the search for the truth. She begs him this because she would rather live happily and continue to stay blind to the truth than to know for sure and be consumed by shame. When Oedipus goes anyway, Jocasta, stricken with guilt and disgrace, runs off and kills herself.
This event is written by Sophocles to show that if the truth would have remained concealed, Jocasta’s life would have been spared , proving the deadly consequences of self-discovery are not worth enduring. Oedipus’ physically blinding himself is the final, decisive point of the story that proves that it is far less detrimental to remain blind to one’s past than to suffer the pain of self-discovery. When
Oedipus’ past finally comes to light, his world begins to crumble around him. Right at this time the news of Jocasta’s death is delivered to him, he exclaims, “O light-now let me look my last on you! I stand revealed at last” (1307-8). Oedipus is exclaiming that he has been blind to the truth all of this time, and for punishment, it will be the last time he physically sees anything. After this he storms off stage and isn’t seen again until a messenger comes out and describes what had happened. The messenger tells of how Oedipus had blinded himself, “He rips off her brooches, the long gold pins holding her robes-and lifting them high…he digs them down the sockets of his eyes” (1403-5). Sophocles meant for this scene to be gruesome and horrifying. He wanted to show that in the end Oedipus would never have had to endure such horrendous pain and suffering had he simply avoided the truth. If he had stayed mentally blind to himself he never would have had to go physically blind and lose everything that was important to him. In conclusion, Oedipus the King truly is a tragic play, but it also reveals an important lesson about the theme of blindness. Oedipus is tremendously exalted and praised by his subjects as king, but he makes the horrible mistake of venturing into his past. Although the prophet Tiresias warns him of his impending doom, and that he should turn back and enjoy life while he still can, Oedipus ignores it. He also ignores the warnings from his wife, who believes that the truth will soon be revealed no matter what, and that he should not go back to find it. Jocasta’s death comes as a price to Oedipus’ ignorance along with the physical blinding of his own eyes. Throughout the play, Sophocles uses this theme of blindness to prove that in some cases, it is dangerous for one to seek out a truth that was always meant to remain concealed to the eyes of humanity.