Ignorance In Oedipus The King

In the play Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, ignorance is a focal point of the reading. Oedipus, the character in which the play focuses on, is an ignorant individual who is looking to find the truth about the plague in his city of Thebes, as well as finding the killer of Laius. The lack of knowledge that he possesses about these mysteries is driving him mad. Oedipus so desperately wants to find out how to stop the plague and wants to find the killer of Laius just as equally. However, after searching and finally becoming aware of his fate and becoming aware of the truth, Oedipus significantly alters his life in a way in which he cannot come back from. Ignorance is quite often seen as a negative quality to possess, but maybe ignorance is what some people need to keep themselves sane.

Throughout Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus can be found innocent on multiple occasions for his wrongdoing in both killing his father and marrying his mother because he is a victim of ignorance. The scholar Vellacott writes of Oedipus’ guilt saying that “if he was to avoid heinous pollution, he must make for himself two unbreakable rules: never to kill an older man; and never to marry an older woman.” This is a false statement because he killed his father out of self defense and married his mother was because he wanted to be the King of Thebes and have the Queen of Thebes, Jocasta, as his wife. All people, including Oedipus, are prone to ignorance in this situation because he was given up at a very young age and did not know who his biological parents actually were.

Celebrated writer and dramatist, Sophocles, in his drama, Oedipus the King, illustrates the theme of ignorance. Ignorance is seen throughout the entire drama and controls many of Oedipus’ decisions leading to his final fate. His purpose is to convey the idea that pride and self-assuredness is not better than knowledge. Sophocles adopts a foreboding tone in order to convey to his readers that ignorance is not always bliss.

Throughout the Sophocles tragedy, “Oedipus the King” Oedipus displays many ignorant actions during the play. Oedipus presents himself to be an overconfident leader of the land of Thebes, whose self-image is too important to ruin. Although Oedipus’ eyes work perfectly fine, he is completely blind to things he refuses to see that could decline his status in the kingdom. Due to Oedipus’ pristine life with his wife, kids and high social position he is sightless to the nauseating truth that lies right before his eyes. A high level of ego can lead to a dangerous amount of ignorance; therefore, when knowledge is gained, pain and self destruction occur.

In the B.C., Sophocles created one of the Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonus. The second Theban Play, Oedipus the King, tells the story of an ignorant King in Thebes who falls into the hands of fate because of his ignorance of those who warn him. While his ignorance is a clear “moral of the story”, knowing too much is another lesson as well. It is apparent to the audience that Oedipus unknowingly killed his father (Laius, who was the king of Thebes) just as the prophecy claimed to happen. He heard about the murder, sought for the aggressor, and encountered a blind prophet named Tiresias, who served as a lesson for knowing too much because he served as a literary foil or a foreshadow to Oedipus, the Ignorant.

People make mistakes and take it upon themselves to punish themselves . Similary , in Oedipus Rex , the way Oedpius handles his parent’s death was very crazy . He thought it was his fault , So he takes it upon himself to take his sight and suffer in order to feel better about the situation people think that when they make a mistake , getting punished is the answer . In the play he thought that hurting himself would solve the issue . Oedipus is punishing himself for his ignorant actions.

If there ever was a situation that absolutely required personal bias, it would be this one: blissful ignorance versus potential painful truth. In my experience, the truth can wound just as easily as a sword. Oedipus is just one such example. The truth is painful, affects more than just the person seeking the truth, and occasionally ruins lives. Based on the fate of Oedipus, it seems that blissful ignorance is definitely the way to live one’s life.

Ignorance can blind an individual from the truth. Plays were of great importance in early Greek culture. Plays were the main source of entertainment, and one of the most exceptional examples is Oedipus the King written by Sophocles. The drama is tremendously uplifted by the character development and the excellent structure Sophocles has put forward. Interactions between characters and each character’s motivations generate brilliant themes throughout the play. Sophocles uses a technique called recognition, which illustrates a character’s turn from ignorance to the truth. The play is about the city of Thebes which is racked by a plague and a crisis that is quickly wiping humans from the earth. The great king of Thebes is Oedipus who must dispose of the problem very quickly. He welcomes information from the god Apollo, who says Oedipus must punish the killer of the former king, Laius. In one of the instances where Oedipus tries to find the killer, he encounters Tiresias, who is a physically blind man but can see everything because he is a prophet of Apollo. Tiresias possesses the information but declines to cooperate with Oedipus. After a series of verbal insults, the audience is left in awe when Tiresias puts the blame on Oedipus. Similarly to Oedipus the King, dialogue “Allegory of the Cave” written by Plato also in the early Greek times, shows that ignorance can lead an individual to be blind from the truth. Sophocles magnificently develops a question of “Who sees and who is blind”. Also in Oedipus the King, Sophocles exhibits how selflessness and ignorance can blind a person from the truth, but eventually has to go through recognition which can cause great agony.

The characters in Oedipus the King by Sophocles serve many purposes with each having an impact on the development of the main character, Oedipus. Likewise, Tiresias 's main purpose is convey the importance of truth and knowledge. Tiresias, the prophet who foretells the destiny of Oedipus, represents the ability of both knowledge and truth in his argument with Oedipus. While Tiresias argues with Oedipus, Teiresias says ”You have mocked at my blindness, but you, who have eyes, cannot see the evil in which you stand”(28). Teiresias’s knowledge allows him to “see” past the literal and acknowledge the truth surrounding of Oedipus's childhood.

In the novel Oedipus The King by Sophocles, Oedipus is portrayed as both a very intelligent leader and as a man that is unaware of himself and where he is from. Sophocles illustrates Oedipus in these different stages of ignorance and intelligence as Oedipus is on his quest to try to save the city of Thebes. Although, I believe that Oedipus has a thirst for ignorance because even after every one of his peers and even his wife told him to stop questioning and leave the truth alone he had to know, which destroyed him. Oedipus demonstrates in his actions, that by being a good leader like he is, he is also very quick to anger and relies on himself rather than the gods which also contributes to his ignorance. By contrasting Oedipus’s knowledge and his unawareness, Sophocles’s Oedipus The King displays that even the smartest and most talented of men can lack the knowledge and wisdom of themselves, causing them and the people around them to fall.

All throughout Oedipus the King, Sophocles has Oedipus on an unknown journey from ignorance to knowledge. Oedipus believes that he has nothing to do with the murder of King Laius even though the truth is laid out in front of him multiple times. As the story goes on, Oedipus begins to become more open-minded to new information that has an unknown cost. Therefore, through the journey to recognition, the once great and powerful Oedipus, can cause his own demise. Sophocles demonstrates that ignorance will blind one from the truth and knowledge will open one's eyes.

Oedipus the King by Sophocles’ is intertwined with many powerful themes and messages, establishing what real vision and real sight are. Sophocles’ play also demonstrates that sometimes in life we have to experience great loss in order to rediscover our true selves. In Oedipus’s quest for truth, lack of self-control, ignorance and tragic self-discovery prevail. Physical vision does not necessarily guarantee insight, nor impart truth. Intertwined with dramatic and cosmic irony, all of these elements contribute to the major theme of blindness and sight, depicting wisdom

     Oedipus, on the other hand, was not given such an easy decision. While gifted with an outward sense of sight, he lacked the knowledge of his own sinful actions - his hamartia, so to speak. Oedipus was seeing to others, but blind to himself. As he fled from Corinth, fearing a prophecy he received from an oracle, Oedipus showed complete blindness to the inevitability of his fate. The murder of his father, Laius, and the subsequent marriage to this mother, Jocasta, further elucidate the extent of Oedipus’ blindness; blind in deed, reason, and consequence. Tragically, Oedipus’ anagnorisis occurs simultaneously with his mother’s/wife’s suicide. With a heart full of despair and a pair of newly opened eyes, Oedipus makes his transformation complete as he exchanges his limited physical eyesight for the spiritual sight possessed by Teiresias. With this being done, Oedipus also seals his fate – he no longer can serve evil,

Oedipus Rex is a story that can be interpreted on many different levels of thinking. The ancient tale has existed for centuries and has been subjected to countless forms of analysis. What is it that makes Oedipus the King such a fascinating story? Is it the suspense of a developing mystery that captivates the audience? Or perhaps the wonderful feeling the readers get after vicariously experiencing the horror Oedipus feels? And if not that, could it be that the reader is intrigued at Sophocles' description of one man's disbelief in the gods? Whichever way one looks at it, Oedipus Tyrannus was, and remains, one of the "most highly admired plays of all time" (Wood, et al, 163).

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.