In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the themes of sight and blindness are developed in a way to communicate to the reader that it is not eyesight itself, but insight that holds the key to truth and, without it, no amount of knowledge can help uncover that truth. Some may define insight as the ability to intuitively know what is going to happen, or simply as the capacity to understand the true nature of a situation. Both definitions hold a significant role in the play, not only for more obvious characters such as Oedipus and Teiresias, but also for Iocaste, whose true character is rather questionable considering her reactions to the events of the play, however, one can only speculate. With these themes in mind, one can see how Sophocles portrays each character to suit these themes and communicate his own definition of the term "sight."…
The themes of sight and blindness occur frequently throughout the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. These symbols serve to develop the unity of the play and reveal the traits of the characters. Oedipus, Tiresias, and Jocasta are very different in their perceptions of sight.…
In Sophocoles’, Oedipus the King, "blindness" is ironically referenced in more than one way. This is the obvious motif of the story. Correspondingly, in the story of Oedipus the King, “blindness” is used quite ambiguously. As a matter of fact, this story displays the classic contrast between the distinction of "seeing" and being "blind," and it is intertwined throughout the story. The contradiction between these two are played by Oedipus and Teiresias. This story is the classic tale of what you see isn’t always what you get.…
In literature, blindness has come to be associated with insight and highly sensitive perception. While Oedipus gains awareness to the truth, no longer blind to his past, before blinding himself, he gains a more spiritual sight after blinding himself. Amidst the terror that strikes in the last few scenes of Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is finally able to take control of his fate by stabbing brooches in his eyes and therefore is able to master the goal of deciding his destiny he had been trying to achieve in his life. It’s this blindness that allows him to live spiritually uplifted and no longer concern…
In the story of Oedipus the king, Sophocles beautifully demonstrates the imagery of sight versus blindness through the use of tragedy and ignorance. Oedipus is ignorant to his own incest, therefore causing the first instance of his blindness. The second instance of Oedipus' blindness is the ignorance of his true parent's identity. The third instance of Oedipus' blindness is a literal one, in which he physically blinds himself after finding the body of his mother, or wife. Sophocles utilizes his skill of creating a tragic character by showing Oedipus as blind on multiple levels, all the while being unaware of his blindness until the end.…
Blindness can be defined as lacking sight or a simple impairment of vision. In opposition, sight is defined as the faculty or power of seeing. While these are literal definitions, the concepts of sight and blindness can have metaphorical connotations as well. The importance of sight and blindness in “Oedipus” create the intriguing plot and progression of the play.…
This instantly places him right on top and boosts him up to fulfill the Kings position. His intuitive instincts and drive to put together his life signified him as a man always on a hunt. These qualities where huge attributes to his life however, he also had many negative traits which would end him. He was a man with a huge temper which leads right to his downfall. Since his temper is what ultimately killed his father, it was obvious that it would not stop there. His lack of emotion and sensitivity to these killing sprees was a sign of a broken man unwilling to wear his heart of his sleeve. A man of pride. This follows even more problems for Oedipus as time continues. He refuses to listen to Teiresias, the blind seer of Thebes. He is informed about his future and is taking back by all that makes sense to him now. He is left alone to figure out what to do next. Instead of handling the situation calmly and effectively, he goes out on an rampage and seeks to kill his wife/mother for not telling him to the truth. Once he arrives, he instantly finds her hung by her own hair. This forces him to completely lose his right state of mind and punishes himself by gauging his…
Oedipus lets himself get in the way. He goes after several different characters throughout the play accusing them of murdering king the King. Oedipus character brings him to his downfall. He will not stop pursuing the truth until he knows the truth. He is given several warnings but neglects to listen to all of them. One warning comes from the Tiresias: “Just send me home. You bear your burdens, / I’ll bear mine. It’s better that way, / please believe me” (363-366) If Oedipus would not of let what people thought of him and his own pride get in the way he could have avoided own downfall leading to his ultimate fate.…
In the polis of Thebes, Oedipus was the not only the king but he was also the hero of the community. The security and health of the community depended on him and he was expected to meet every urgent crisis with a plausible solution. He was celebrated for acting decisively and making decisions and then acting on them. With all his past accomplishments and achievements, Oedipus developed a strong sense of confidence, which fueled his over inflated ego. Unfortunately, when circumstances did not turn out in his favor, such as in his conflict with Tiresias the blind prophet, Oedipus became rigid and refused to see the problem on any one else’s terms except his own. Oedipus only wanted things to go the way he thought they should go. Whatever stood in his way he tried to overcome publicly and without any compromise from the opposing party, which was illustrated in his argument in front of the palace with Creon over the murder of the former King Laius. Ultimately his attitude of confidence with no compromises contributed to his disastrous and sad end. In most cases, intelligence and diligence are valuable traits to possess, but for Oedipus they contributed to his eventual downfall. Oedipus was known for being extremely intelligent and was very talented at solving riddles. To earn the right to be King of Thebes, Oedipus solved a riddle, which as a result…
Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King in the 5th century BCE, in contrast with the work of the Roman Ovid. The character of King Oedipus demonstrates his attitude of overconfidence from the beginning, as he speaks to the children outside his palace and introduces himself as, “I, Oedipus whom all men call the Great” (Oedipus the King 73). As a result of this hubris, he tries to defy the prophecies given by the gods, but he goes on to follow the prophecy as it was laid out and do exactly what he was most afraid of doing (Oedipus the King 83). The Oracle of Delphi gives him the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, but his overconfidence convinces him that he can overcome this; instead of taking the advice of the prophet Teiresias, he attacks Teiresias in anger over the prophecy (Oedipus the King 80-81, 86). He embarks on an adventure towards Thebes from Corinth, and on his way, he kills an old man and marries the queen of Thebes (Oedipus the King 105), completely unaware that in doing so, he is fulfilling the prophecy. Throughout the story, his pride shines through both his actions and his attitude, as he attempts to prove that he knows more and is more powerful than the prophet, stating, “it has no strength for you because you are blind in mind and ears as well as in your eyes…You life is one long night so that you cannot hurt me or any…
One of the most important theme in Oedipus Rex, remains the theme of blinding himself, Oedipus, central character of the play, ruler of Thebes, conqueror of the Sphinx, a great leader and role model a character dominated by valor and strong will. His destiny is sad; gods will help him to rise up to be a good king and to be loved by the people, and in the end help him to fall in the deepest abyss. The scene of blinding himself is the most touching one, being both shocking and reveling of the human condition. It is a classic part that needs to be understood; is a great way to bring the whole story together, being a type of action which gives us a better feel for the real tragedy. King Oedipus is both physical and metaphorical blind; clear-eyed Oedipus is blind to the truth about his origins and inadvertent crimes and only after he blinded himself he gains a prophetic ability.…
Oedipus blinds himself in shame, accepting full responsibility for poising the city and willingly takes the punishment of exile. In the end, Oedipus’ arrogance led to his downfall. He lost his wife, his eyesight and his kingship. He uncovered the riddles of his life and found out that he was the boy who was the subject of the prophecy. His intelligence, egotism and arrogance led to this finding which caused him losing all that he had. The resolution of his life puts Oedipus above any other tragic hero. He unravels his life in a way that pushes the limits of agony a human can take and there he finds incomparable greatness of…
During Oedipus’s life, he tried to live a life dedicated to his family and his people. He stood by his fellow Thebans and tried to always listen and do what’s in the best interest for them. However, living a life trying to do what’s right is never easy when you are destined to commit heinous crimes. Oedipus finds out during his search that he is the killer in which he is in search of. After learning of this news, Oedipus finally starts to see the big…
From the very start, Oedipus doomed himself by launching a search for the killer of Laius in hopes of further establishing himself as a hero. When the people of Thebes begged Oedipus to find the root of the plague, he was all too eager to declare his greatness by saying, “Now you have me on your side, as is only right. I shall be the defender of Thebes, and Apollo's champion, too (Sophocles 12).” The investigation for King Laius’ murderer serves as the central action of the tragedy, and from the onset it was doomed to end in Oedipus’ destruction. Blissfully unaware of this, he used diction such as “only right”, “defender”, and “champion” to reassure the chorus. These words all have boastful connotations and reveal Oedipus’ actual goal, which was to once again prove his own cleverness to the world. However, this plan backfired, and Oedipus was later faced with the bitter fact that he was the very murderer he had been looking for all this time. Had Oedipus taken a more modest approach in his attempt to save Thebes, perhaps the Gods would not have been angered to the point of ruining his life.…
Authors often use blindness both metaphorically and literally to describe their characters. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles begins the play with literally blind Thebans suffering from a plague that their metaphorically blind king has brought upon them. Oedipus, being the king, is trying to help his blind Thebans. In doing this, he blindly curses the murderer of the late King Laius for bringing this plague, not knowing that the murderer is himself. When Sophocles introduces the theme of blindness in Oedipus Rex, the plot gets more complicated as the characters are made aware of their blindness.…