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).
In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, the reader finds Oedipus as an overzealous king, but one that cares deeply for the people who are under his rule. After solving the mystery of the Sphinx and under the belief that he has escaped the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother, Oedipus’ self-confidence goes into over drive. His compassion, for the pain and suffering his people are under, causes him to pronounce a curse on the murderer of Laius. Unknown to the king, he is condemning himself for the crime he committed years ago.
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...
At first, Oedipus has one idea of what the truth is and then he is released into reality and learns a second truth. He does not immediately support the second idea as truth until he is in that realm for long enough for it to become his only truth. The light of knowledge weighs heavily on him though so Oedipus blinds himself. This is similar to the prisoner being sent back to the cave because the prisoner now has a new idea of the truth but cannot physically show anyone in the cave that truth, just as Oedipus cannot longer physically see even though he has come to accept the new truth. Going in or out of the light can provide a challenging truth, which can bewilder eyes because it is not the view that a character previously had. Change forces them to take a new perspective but it also reveals that no two people are on the same path but they are both usually headed toward the light and truth. It goes to show that although people can delay their destiny, there is no escape from the
Initially, Oedipus is a confident leader who believes he is educated and knows the truth about himself and the land he presides over, Thebes. This is because he was proclaimed the most famous man alive as a result of his answering the Sphinx’s riddle to save Thebes from a tragic epidemic. However, at the beginning of the play there is another plague causing grief to the members of Thebes, and Oedipus goes so far as to say that he will stop at nothing to rid Thebes of this pollution. He states, "Each of you grieves for himself alone, while my heart must bear the strain of sorrow for all--myself and you and all our city’s people. No I am not blind to it," (p.4). Yet in essence he is blind to it because he is the indirect cause for the epidemic in Thebes. Oedipus finds out that the cause for the Epidemic is that nobody came forth as an avenger in the murder of King Laius. Oedipus then states, "I shall not cease until I bring the truth to light. Apollo has shown, and you have shown, the duty which we owe the dead," (p.5). This is ironic in that Oedipus vows to make the truth come to light so that everybody can see it, including himself. Moreover, th...
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
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
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.
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
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...