The True Vision of Blindness in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles

People may be blinded to truth, and may not realize what truth is, even if truth is standing in front of them. They will never see truth becase they are blind to it. In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles it is easy to see how blindness affects the transition of the story. It is said that blind people see “in a different manner” because they sense the world in a totally diferent way, such as Teiresias in the play. Oedipus Rex is a tragedy due to the content the Sophocles, the playwright, decided to include, first, murdering his father, king Laius, then marrying his mother, Jocasta, and ending by blinding himself. Oedipus has been blinded to the truth all his life. Eventually, when he seeks the truth he intentionally loses his physical vision, and because of this, blinds himself. Furthermore, Jocasta does not see the true identity of Oedipus, and when she truly sees it, she refuses to accept the truth. Therefore, blindness does not always depict ignorance.

Oedipus is now king of Thebes in gratitude for having solved and freeing the people from the Sphinx’s riddle. Also, Oedipus had come to be king of Thebes because Laius, former king before, had been killed. The outraged town calls in the king so they can figure out how Liaus’ murder occurred. In attempt to such thing, Oedipus call in Teirisias, a blind prophet. After some arguing between the bling prophet and the king, they come to the conclusion that Oedipus is the murderer. Oedipus thinks that Creon has set up all this for him to overthrow him. Jocasta come in time to stop the fight between the two, and she presents the prophecy. She says she prevents it because she says that Laius has been killed by robbers at the junction of three roads on the route to Delphi. The truth is that the p...

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...cause eventually Oedipus becomes blind for this same reason.(14)

Throughout the entire play, it is clearly seen that blindness carries on second hand effects on most of the characters. Oedipus refuses to see life as it really is, and when he accepts all his truths, he ends up self-blinding himself because of his impotence to accept the true meaning of life. Once he becomes physically blind, he starts to see in a differnet manner, and he starts to realize that blindness is not necessarily a lack of knowledge. This following quote may represent one of the key themes in Sophocles’ work, “we see and understand things not as they are, but as we are.” This previous quote expresses that what a person sees depends on the person, and the point of view that person wants to take advantage of. In the play, Oedipus shows this idea towards his past, and also, towards his fate.