Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and the Human Condition Essay

The theme of sight and blindness is undoubtedly important to notice while reading Oedipus the King. The number of times the words “see” or “blind” are in the play make it make it undeniably obvious that they are significant. The theme is developed throughout the dialogue, through characters such as Tiresias and Oedipus, and also directly in the irony of the play. It is important in a play about the truth because almost every character was “blind” to the truth. All of the characters, except one, can physically see, but mentally cannot see the truth.

In “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles, being blind and seeing appear to be an important theme throughout this section of reading. On page 719 Teiresias says, “But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind: You can not see the wretchedness of your life” (Sophocles 196-197). This quote shows how Teiresias is blind but is able to see the truth and Oedipus for who he actually is, while Oedipus is able to see but is blind to the truth and who he really is. I find it ironic how Oedipus is so determined to find the person who murdered Laius, yet in the end, he was the murderer. The way that the sentences are broken up between different lines was different than what I am used to reading. Overall, I have found this short story interesting and not

Blind and unable to function without assistance, Oedipus proudly claims, “Here I shall prevail over those who banished me.” (120) He is proud and believes he will prevail with an unwavering mindset. To his detriment, Oedipus is inflexible and unable to learn from his mistakes to the very end of his

The play, Oedipus the King by Sophocles presents a grim hamartia caused from a terrible deed of long ago. Oedipus the protagonist is the powerful King of Thebes and held of high estate by the people of Thebes. As the terrible deed of Oedipus’s becomes apparent to both Oedipus and the City of Thebes his tragic flaw is slowly realized. The play will show “tragic power resides in human failing, hamartia, constantly underpinning any sense of the inevitable” (Walton). The play will show the author’s view of a tragic hero as seen in the play Oedipus the King does exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero.

Oedipus is blind in many ways before he physically blinds himself. He shows excessive pride throughout the entirety of the play. He believes that he is better than everyone else. He even goes as far as to mock the gods by saying that he did not need them to solve the sphinx’s riddle.

In the beginning, Oedipus is told by Teiresias that he lives in shame. Of course, Oedipus feels that Teiresias is blind of not only sight, but knowledge:

From the very beginning of Oedipus, one can see that the main character of Oedipus is very sure about who he is and where he has come from. One of the most important motifs of the story is the idea of metaphorical blindness, and how Oedipus claims that everyone else around him is blind, and he is the only one that can see. However, what Oedipus soon finds out is that he has no idea who he is, and that all along he has been blind himself. Sophocles makes Oedipus suffer because of the fact that he actually has no idea who he is, and almost avoids figuring it out. It takes a defining moment for it to dawn on Oedipus that he is not who he thought he was. Oedipus’ blindness seems to have been his downfall, but the more prevalent question that

Oedipus intelligence could not see the truth, but the blind man, Teiresias, saw it plainly. Sophocles uses blindness as a theme in the play. Oedipus was uninformed and as a result blind to the truth about himself and his past. Yet, when Teiresias exposes the truth he is in denial. It is left to Oedipus to conquer his blindness, accept the truth, and realize fate. But instead Oedipus ridicules Terirsias blindness and accuses him of being on the side of Kreon and helping him become King. He accuses Teiresias for being paid to tell a fraudulent prophecy to him. Quickly Teiresias answers him back and tells him he is BLIND, and tells him about his past of who his actual mother and father was.

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

     From the very beginning of the play, we can already see that Oedipus is a great but flawed man. He proves to us

Oedipus’ extreme pride and arrogance created an illusion for himself in which he lived blind to the

           Oedipus has spent all his life running from his fate. He has, we learn, been told that he is fated to kill his father and marry his mother. And he refused to accept that fate. He has spent much of his life moving around, so as to avoid his fate. It was a

Oedipus is only able to truly see the truth when he cannot see light, i.e. he is blind (“O Light, This be the last time I shall gaze on thee, who am revealed to have been born of those of whom I ought not…”).

We are all born little happy babies. Then we start to learn words and understand what surrounds us. We are taught to react to certain things negatively, and have a bias towards some things that other family members do not agree with. You get taught things that make life miserable, like doubt, fear and worry. If you were to be living life in doubt, worry, or fear, you would be unhappy. I agree with the choruses statement saying that the human condition is essentially an unhappy one because we get taught things that are supposed to sadden us during our upbringing. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus’s fate shows his sorrowful life when he went through hardships like the curse on Thebes, denial of himself, and the worry about the fulfillment of his prophecy.

Oedipus is effected by outside influences as much as Medea is, however it is not as exemplified. The outside influences slowly creep into Oedipus’s mindset as the story moves on. Despite how swayed Oedipus might have been by others, he showcases actions influenced only by personal desires in the beginning of the story. Oedipus is one who has a position of power, which may have shaped him to trust his own mind and decisions over others. His mental toughness is broken through however with characters such as Tiresias and the Herdsman. Little details about his past break down the barrier that shields his mind from being influenced by outside sources. As Effie Coughanowr suggests, Oedipus willingly listening to this toxic information serves as, “a single false step and tragedy becomes reality.” (Coughanowr para. 17). This process is a long one where at the end he is seen as broken man that blames himself for the events unfolded. The manner in which he blames himself, “O Kithairon, why did you bring me in? Or once you had