Oedipus the King

547 Words2 Pages

Strength Equals Downfall
Aristotle defined a tragic story as the adventure of a good man who reaches his ultimate downfall because he pushed his greatest quality too far. Sophocles advocates the definition in the tragic play Oedipus Rex. He develops the play with the great polarities of fame and shame, sight and blindness, and ignorance and insight to show Oedipus’ experiences in search for knowledge about his identity. Through his search, Oedipus pushes his quest for truth too far and ultimately reaches his doom. Oedipus’ reliance on his intellect is his greatest strength and ultimate downfall.
Oedipus is shown to be a well-liked and trusted king among all his townspeople. Solving the riddle of the Sphinx and saving Thebes brought him great fame and popularity. When time came to save the town from Laios’ killer, Oedipus relied much on his intellect. He searched for information about the night of the murder from Creon and Teiresias, but as he learned more details, Oedipus realized not only that he was the killer but also that he married his mother. Throughout his inquiry he believed he was doing good for his people as well as himself, but eventually it brought him shame. Oedipus was humiliated and disgusted and stated, “…kill me; or hurl me into the sea, away from men’s eyes for ever(p882, 183).'; Oedipus’ wanted to be isolated from the people of Thebes because all his respect and fame was destroyed by his fate.
Oedipus’ fate caused him to isolate himself by blinding himself. Ironically, when Oedipus had his sight, he didn’t know the truth about the murder or even his life. He thought a group of bandits killed Laios and that his parents were from Corinth. Teiresias, a blind man, accused Oedipus of being blind “with both [his] eyes(p855, 196).'; Oedipus used his “blinded'; sight to discover the truth that brought him to his demise. Since he “had too long been blind to those for whom [he] was searching…from this hour [he would] go in darkness(p878, 49)!'; His strong reliance on his intellect unfortunately led him to see no more.
When Oedipus blinded himself, he actually had more insight than before. His ignorance about the murder caused him to rely on his intellect to find out the truth. He persisted learning more not only from Creon and Teiresias but also from the messenger and the shepherd. He went against his wife Jocasta’s wishes of having “no more questioning(p872, 140)'; because he felt “the truth must be made known(146).

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Foreshadowing In Oedipus The King

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is foreshadowed multiple times when he speaks with Teiresias, the blind prophet. Oedipus keeps pressing the prophet to tell him who the murderer is, and when he is told that he is the one who killed King Laius, he loses his temper because he refused to believe it. He begins to mock Teiresias telling him, “You sightless, witless, senseless, mad old man” (1216). This of course doesn’t phase Teiresias, who comes back to say “you mock my blindness, do you? But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind: You cannot see the wretchedness of your life,” (1217). Oedipus is mentally blind by not wanting to see the facts and accept the truth. He later physically blinds himself after finding out that Teiresias was telling the truth and stabs his eyes out with the pins from Jocasta’s

    Read More

  • Oedipus The King

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    Undoubtedly there has been a tremendous amount of speculation and dissection of this play by countless people throughout the ages. I can only draw my own conclusions as to what Sophocles intended the meaning of his play to be. The drama included a number of horrific and unthinkable moral and ethical dilemas, but I believe that was what made the play so interesting and that is exactly the way Sophocles intended it to be. The play was obviously meant to entertain and portray the author’s own insight. The underlying theme to the play is that no man should know his own destiny, it will become his undoing. This knowledge of things to come was presented to both Laius and Oedipus in the form of prophecies well in advance of it coming to be. The prophecies told of things that were so morally disturbing that they both aggressively did everything in their power to try and stop them from coming true. The story begins with Oedipus at the height of power as King of Thebes. His kingdom has encountered rough times and he has sent his nobleman Creon to seek help from the god Apollo to restore his land. Creon tells Oedipus that he must find the murderer of the previous King Laius and by finding this man and banishing him, his land will be restored. The murder occurred some time ago and King Oedipus sends for the seer Theiresias with his powers of prophecy to aid in the search for the murderer. Sophocles cleverly projects his feelings on wisdom and knowledge through Teirsias when he says “Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the man that’s wise!”(23) Teirsias knows that this terrible prophecy has already been set into motion and the damage has already been done. There is really no point in telling it to Oedipus because it will only cause more harm than good. Oedipus provokes Teirsias into telling him the prophecy, “ Í tell you, king, this man, this murderer-he is here. In name he is a stranger among citizens but soon he will be shown to be a citizen true native Theban, and he’ll have no joy of the discovery: blindness for sight and beggary for riches his exchange, he shall go journeying to a foreign country tapping his way befor him with a stick.

    Read More

  • Qedipus. a Blind King

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    The most obvious form of blindness that Oedipus initially undertook was that of being mentally blind. It is clear to the reader from the beginning of the play that Oedipus only sees what he wants to see. Oedipus is quick to blame Creon for the plague on the city of Thebes, as he assumes that Creon, along with Teiresias, is plotting against him, in order to strip him from his crown. Oedipus worries too much about his position as being the king of Thebes, as he does not realize his mental blindness of the truth. He refuses to look at his own past, where instead he goes and blames others for his own crimes. Oedipus knows that he had killed man/men in the past but due to his blindness, refuses to accept the possibility that just maybe, that man could have been his father. The fact t...

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus Rex”, by Socrates, is a play that shows the fault of men and the ultimate power of the gods. Throughout the play, the main character, Oedipus, continually failed to recognize the fault in human condition, and these failures let to his ultimate demise. Oedipus failed to realize that he, himself was the true answer to the riddle of the Sphinx. Oedipus ignored the truth told to him by the oracles and the drunk at the party, also. These attempts to get around his fate which was determined by the gods was his biggest mistake. Oedipus was filled with hubris and this angered the gods. He believed he was more that a man. These beliefs cause him to ignore the limits he had in being a man. Oedipus needed to look at Teiresias as his window to his future.

    Read More

  • How Does The Author Use Violence In The Kite Runner

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    As punishment to himself, he blinds himself from the events which had unfolded, never again is he to lay his eyes on his mother/wife and his siblings/children. Oedipus’s journey throughout the play is one for knowledge. His life centers around him not knowing his true parents. Without his knowledge and with the pursuit of Apollo he is forced to confront his past. The prophet Tiresias is the first of many who attempt to guide Oedipus to sight. Tiresias is a blind prophet, yet despite his handicap, he is able to see clearly the dreadful past,present, and future of Oedipus. Despite hints, Oedipus remains blind to the fate placed upon him by the gods; blind and ignorant. Sophocles uses violence in Oedipus Rex to allow the story to progress, otherwise it would be

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King

    993 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many times humans do things that contradict another thing they do. An example of this is one thing may be good but also bad at the same time. A person who has done this more then once is Oedipus in the writer Sophocles plays. Sophocles uses imagery like light verses darkness, knowledge verses ignorance and sight verses blindness.

    Read More

  • Oedipus The King Critical Lens Essay

    1605 Words  | 4 Pages

    At least a person who is literally blind is aware that he or she will be sightless for the rest of their life. With regard to that they are also better with their coping skills. However, if a person is blind to the truth as was stated, “ There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting” (Search Quotes). Therefore, it is important to learn the truth to accept it because if not Oedipus would have continued being stubborn and would have not acknowledge that he was wrong. In addition to that Oedipus ended up feeling ignorant because he was not self aware of his true identity. It was then that he started to ponder whether all of this could have been avoided by knowing the truth since the start. For Oedipus and Jocasta In Oedipus The King, that storyline was just the case. Therefore, when Oedipus learned the truth, his way of dealing with this figurative blindness was to physically deprive himself of sight. And when Jocasta learned the truth, her way of dealing with her figurative blindness was to assassinate herself. In this play, “blindness led to the truth, and the truth led to blindness” (Blindness and Sight in Oedipus the King). Although Oedipus, Teiresias and Jocasta were all blind they were all able to find the

    Read More

  • Sight and Blindness in Oedipus Tyrannus

    342 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has perfect physical vision. However, he is blind and ignorant to the truth about himself and his past. He desperately wants to know, to see, but he cannot. Oedipus' blindness which must be considered is that many times throughout the course of the action he is warned not to pursue the matter any further, for fear that the truth could be damaging to him as the prophesies would suggests. The events are made all the more tragic at the point where he thinks he can 'see' when he at last realizes that he is in fact the murderer of Laius, and yet he is still blind to the final horrible truth. To make the situation worst Jocasta his wife advises Oedipus not to pursue the matter further: "Stop-in the name of god, ….call off this search!" Jocasta has seen the truth but Oedipus is only worried in she finds out he was not of noble birth.

    Read More

  • Oedipus The King Sight Vs Blindness Analysis

    533 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through the play “Oedipus the King”, there is a recurring pattern of sight and blindness, not just physical blindness but blindness of knowledge as well. In the beginning of the play Oedipus has a fine sight of vision, but he is ignorant to the truth. On the other side Tiresias is literally blind, but he can see Oedipus past, present, and future. Oedipus eyes work fine but as the play progresses he is completely blinded by the fate that the gods have placed on him. The blindness in the play symbolizes “seeing” and “knowledge”, Tiresias who can see through knowledge where Oedipus can physically see. Sight vs Blindness is a theme that appears in the play which appears when Tiresias, who is a blind prophet is revealing that Oedipus is the killer himself. Oedipus in denial refuses to believe Tiresias and continues to blame the murder on others. Throughout the conversation between Oedipus and

    Read More

  • Blindness and Sight in Oedipus the King - Lack of Vision

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus was blind in more then one way. He was blind to the truth about his own life. Oedipus had no idea that his real parents were Laius and Jocasta. He was so blind that he got mad at anyone who was foolish enough to suggest such an idea.

    Read More

  • Sight vs. Blindness in Oedipus the King

    459 Words  | 1 Pages

    From the very beginning, Oedipus was “blind”. Oedipus has perfect physical vision. However, he is blind and ignorant to the truth about himself and his past. He desperately seeks to know about the death of his father. At this point, it is obvious what Oedipus's action must be, to overcome the blindness. All of his actions thereafter are to that end.

    Read More

  • Seeing the Truth in Sophocles´ Oedipus the King

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, there are many references to sight, blindness, and seeing the truth. Characters, such as Tiresias, are able to accurately predict what Oedipus’ fate will be through their power to see the truth in a situation. Oedipus maintains a pompous and arrogant personality throughout the play as he tries to keep control of the city of Thebes and prove the speculations about his fate as falsities. Ironically, although Tiresias is physically blind, he is able to correctly predict how Oedipus’ backstory will unfold, while other characters, such as Jocasta and Oedipus are oblivious to the truth even though they can physically see. Thus, we can conclude that the power of “seeing the truth” deviates greatly from the power of sight in reality and can lead to an expedited fate or a detrimental occurrence.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Knowledge In Oedipus The King

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, the limitations of human capability prevent advancement of intellectual insight or knowledge. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus undergoes a drastic change from a prideful hero to hopeless sinner. Throughout the change, the balance between knowledge and suffering is kept stable. In the beginning, he is the “greatest in all men’s eyes” – prideful and confident (40). However, he is ignorant of himself and what is to come. When he does not know anything, he is happy and without struggle. When he is given knowledge from Teiresias, he accuses Creon of treason and suffers the loss of a friend. When given knowledge from the herdsman, Oedipus pushes Jocasta away and loses her to suicide. When realizing the truth, he loses his sight. Oedipus once had “[his] eyes but see not where [he is] in sin…nor whom [he] lives with” (397). However, as he chased the murder case, he had “no joy in the discovery: …[exchanging] blindness for sight” (454). “Sight”, in this context, represents the truth. For the truth, he became blind. In the beginning, Oedipus, to any man with information regarding the murder, “command[ed] him to tell everything to [him]…let him speak the truth. For [he] will pay him” (227-232). He foreshadows that acquiring information would come with a price. Though it may seem as though Oedipus advances his knowledge as he learns the truth, he suffers the loss of those around him. When he discovers the truth behind

    Read More

  • Common Themes Of Sight And Blindness In Oedipus The King

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is an old saying “There are none so blind as those who will not see.” What this is saying is that people are blind in what they see (ignorant) and what they are willing to see. Even some with the best vision can be blind. It is all about what we want to see, which can be very misleading and can cause issues like it did for Oedipus. We all can be blinded by the truth if we are ignorant and foolish. In Oedipus the King, we see two common themes, Sight vs. Blindness which is demonstrated both intellectually and physically. There are five instances that really stick out to me where we see Oedipus blinded physically and by his ignorance and hubris.

    Read More

  • Oedipus Rex: The Search for Truth

    2217 Words  | 5 Pages

    Oedipus was willing to die to uncover the truth. Closure was needed for Oedipus the individual and Oedipus the king. Despite this need for closure, Oedipus remained blind to the clues in his path, plainly dismissing the ideas of other characters. Oedipus’ passion for knowledge was at least as strong as his blindness to the clues in his path. This blindness can be attributed to his pride. This pride gradually developed from h...

    Read More

More about Oedipus the King

Open Document