Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Literary analysis on oedipus the king
Literary analysis on oedipus the king
Critiques on oedipus the king
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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.
Throughout Oedipus’ quest to disprove prophecy and discover the truth about his life, his incredible hubris causes his reaction to his final discovery to be one that flaws his nobility. Upon realizing the truth, Oedipus gouges out his own eyes in attempt to become superior because he is amazed at the fact that a Tiresias, a blind prophet who he has just recently insulted because of his inability to physically see, was able to project Oedipus’ fate and outsmart the ever so noble and ever perfect Oedipus (which is how he invasions himself.) Oedipus’ desire to be the best at everything overwhelms him as he gouges out his own eyes to make himself even more superior, because his false perceptions about the true powers of blindness and sight has led him to believe that being blind makes you superior: “I did it all myself! What good were eyes to me? Nothing I could see could bring me joy.” (241) The fact that Oed...
... middle of paper ...
...
In Oedipus the King, Sophocles suggests that the impact of seeing the truth is harmful rather than enlightening. Whenever Oedipus strives to discover more to strengthen Thebes’ perspective of him, it leads him closer to his fate as determined by prophesy. Tiresias stands as a model in the play for the individual who is able to see the meaning beyond plot of events although his is blind, and Oedipus represents the oblivious arrogant individual who is never content because they need to be the unsurpassed individual. In the play, Sophocles illustrates the downside of a personality like Oedipus who desires to see the truth by ending the play with the brutality of gouging out his own eyes. Ultimately, the play reinforces that seeing the truth is harmful and being content with what you have, without greedily striving for more, can help avoid fate and a related deposition.
In the play when Oedipus asks Teiresias to reveal the murderer of King Laois, Teiresias blames Oedipus as the murderer and Oedipus denies the blame and gets angry on Teiresias. The chorus even denies the blame on Oedipus and takes Oedipus’ side. The chorus says the following lines to protect Oedipus “This is the king who solved the famous riddle, and towered up, most powerful of men. No mortal eyes but looked on him with envy, Yet in the end ruin swept over him”(Freud 988). Oedipus on the other hand who is really mad at Teiresias blames him and Creon for plotting against him. As Oedipus was blind from the start he was unaware of his origins which will cause him to trigger the unavoidable chain of events that would lead to the fulfilment of the prophecy. But he didn’t knew the fate itself was unavoidable. The irony of theme sight and blindness is produced here when Oedipus is compared to Teiresias. Oedipus who is not blind and has the capability to see with both of his eyes doesn’t finds anything wrong in killing a man, who he later discovers was King Laois and his group. He even took over the throne of Thebes and was found to be lying with his mother thinking her as his wife and having babies with her. On the other hand is Teiresias who is really blind and unable to see than...
Initially Oedipus appears blind to the knowledge of his heritage, but, by the end of the play he gains the horrifying knowledge of his true identity and the information he has indeed fulfilled the prophecy. Once Oedipus realizes that he has fulfilled the oracle, he panics and cries out, "LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT / never again flood these eyes with your white radiance, oh gods, my eyes. All, all / the oracles have proven true" (ll. 1492-1494). Oedipus finally comes out of figurative blindness and into the "light," or knowledge, that he has indeed killed his father and married his mother. He essentially curses he new-found wisdom and begs that "light never again" reach his eyes because of its horrifying consequences. In addition, Oedipus recognizes the fact that he "knew nothing until now, saw nothing until now, and became / the husband of the woman who gave him birth" (ll. 1926-1927). He admits that that until his conversation with shepherd he "knew nothing until now," as he believed that he would not complete the prophecy by fleeing to Corinth. Unfortunately, this new i...
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...
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.
In Oedipus the King, Sophocles uses Oedipus and various other characters to convey the theme of blindness. King Oedipus ruled over Thebes, after solving the Sphinx’s riddle. After Oedipus is victorious over the sphinx, Oedipus becomes swollen with hubris leading into his figurative and literal blindness throughout the book. The author, Sophocles uses a blind seer to convey the sense that a physically blind man can know more about the issues concerning Thebes over their respected rulers Oedipus, and Jocasta who were not physically blind like the blind seer. Oedipus was not only just blind to the issues concerning Thebes he was blind to almost everything else. Then when the truth comes out blindness is even emphasized more with Oedipus blinding his self physically. His hubris is caused by many things one may be him thinking he has evaded his cursed prophecy, and even having his own townspeople pray to him as if he were one of the God’s. Blindness in Oedipus Rex was both literal and figurative. People can be physically blind as well as be blinded by the truth figuratively.
Ironically, this causes the king to gouge out his eyes, which have been blind to the truth for so long. He screams, You, you'll see no more the pain I suffered, all the pain I caused! Too long you looked on the ones you never should have seen, blind to the ones you longed to see, to know! Blind from this hour on! Blind in the darkness—blind! Oedipus furthers Sophocles' sight metaphor when he defends his decision to humble himself through blindness: "What good were eyes to me?
The play "Oedipus Rex" is a very full and lively one to say the least. Everything a reader could ask for is included in this play. There is excitement, suspense, happiness, sorrow, and much more. Truth is the main theme of the play. Oedipus cannot accept the truth as it comes to him or even where it comes from. He is blinded in his own life, trying to ignore the truth of his life. Oedipus will find out that truth is rock solid. The story is mainly about a young man named Oedipus who is trying to find out more knowledge than he can handle. The story starts off by telling us that Oedipus has seen his moira, his fate, and finds out that in the future he will end up killing his father and marrying his mother. Thinking that his mother and father were Polybos and Merope, the only parents he knew, he ran away from home and went far away so he could change his fate and not end up harming his family. Oedipus will later find out that he cannot change fate because he has no control over it, only the God's can control what happens. Oedipus is a very healthy person with a strong willed mind who will never give up until he gets what he wants. Unfortunately, in this story these will not be good trait to have.
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.
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.
The play Oedipus Tyrannus, written by Sophocles, is a play filled with symbols and irony involving the aspect of both vision and blindness. This aspect of the novel takes on an important role in the life of Oedipus, the ruler of Thebes. He originally feels as though he knows and sees everything, nevertheless, as the motto of the Oracle at Delphi states, he does not "know thyself," as he will find out toward the end of the play. The notion of seeing and blindness becomes an important and ironic symbol in the tragic fall of Oedipus, a man who could not escape his lot or moira.
Oedipus cannot see that Teiresias, one who knows all, has given him the answer he desperately sought after. Oedipus ironically mocks Teiresias for his blindness, he tells him he is a fool for not only can he not see with his eyes but he cannot see the truth as well. Teiresias, however, sets the record straight and provides another dose of truth: “You mock for my blindness, do you? / But I say that you, with both your eyes are blind” (Scene 1. 969). And Oedipus for all he sees with his eyes is blind in the face of truth. For instance, a prime example of Oedipus’s lack of vision when faced with the truth is when he and his wife, Iocaste exchange stories of their truths. His wife tries to comfort him in the fact that the prophecies and the gods are not accurate by sharing her own, which she believes never came true “If it is a question of soothsayers, I tell you/ That you will find no man whose craft gives knowledge/ Of the unknowable” (Scene 2. 977). She finds this knowledge to prove her point, but after Oedipus reveals his own ‘inaccurate’ prophecy, she realizes her lack of perception: “For God’s love, let us have no more questioning! / Is your life nothing to you? / My own pain is enough for me to bear” (Scene 3. 985). She tries to protect Oedipus from himself because while she has opened her eyes to the truth, Oedipus is still blind to it: “The Queen, like a woman, is perhaps ashamed/ To think of my
In Greek tragedy the natural forces are destructive. These forces might be nature, gods or fate. Man is helpless in facing these powers.
It is said that the truth will set you free, but in the case of Sophocles’ Oedipus, the truth drives a man to imprison himself in a world of darkness by gouging out his eyes. As he scours the city for truth, Oedipus’ ruin is ironically mentioned and foreshadowed in the narrative. With these and other devices Sophocles illuminates the king’s tragic realization and creates a firm emotional bond with the audience.
Unfortunately, as Oedipus gains the gift of sight internally, he discards his physical outward sight. Sight is something of good and evil, one can choose one or the other. Teiresias, who was the prophet of Phoebus, was troubled with blindness to the physical world but had the gift of sight in the spiritual world. This gift gave him the chance to become a high quality prophet and was praised by god-like people.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Oedipus and Tiresias, characters of Sophocles' play "Oedipus Tyrannus," are propelled to their individual destinies by their peculiar relationships with truth. Paranoid and quick to anger Oedipus, is markedly different from the confident and self-assured Tiresias. In the dialogue between the two men, Oedipus rapidly progresses from praise of Tiresias as a champion and protector of Thebes in line 304, to blatantly accusing the blind prophet of betraying the city in line 331, to angrily insulting him in line 334. Rather than be intimidated by the protagonist's title and temperament, Tiresias draws strength from what he knows is true and is able to stand his ground.