Sophocles, the author of Oedipus the King, uses several literary techniques to support the theme of sight and blindness. The technique he uses the most is irony. The first example of irony relating to sight and blindness is when Oedipus blinds himself after Jocasta kills herself. “He ripped out the golden pins with which her clothes were fastened, raised them high above his head, and speared the pupils of his eyes. ... he raised his hands and struck his eyes again and again.” (Oedipus the King, 73). Second, Oedipus mentions sight many times during the play. He tells Jocasta, “Tell me one more thing that will shed light on this.” (Oedipus the King, page 43), and later says, “It is all clear as daylight now.” (Oedipus the King, page 43). In the beginning of the play, he is told that he does indeed see, “Oedipus, ruler of Thebes, you see us here at your altar… You can see for yourself.” (Oedipus the King, page 6). …show more content…
In the play, one of his main ideas is that wisdom is worth much more than physical ability, using the example of physical sight and insight. Using both verbal and situational irony throughout the story, he successfully grabs the attention of the reader so that they easily grasp his