Ignorance In Oedipus Rex Essay

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To see or not to see, that is the real question. Is ignorance really bliss? Is the truth really worth it? And isn’t that ironic? The motif of sight and blindness is used in the classic Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, to emphasize ignorance, knowledge, and to have a sense of irony in the character of Tiresias. Ignorance, it is said that it is bliss; to not know something. It may be something good, or something bad. This difference may never be discovered because, ignorance. This cluelessness appears many times in the story, represented by the characteristic of blindness. Oedipus was viewed as a man that was “greatest in the eyes of all.”(44) Before the truth came spilling out, the people of Thebes adored Oedipus. They praise him for all he had done, such as save them from the terror of the Sphinx, as well as being a great king. Oedipus was compared to the gods with his mightiness. Later on in the play, Oedipus declares that, “as if for [his] own father…[he will] try everything, seeking to find the one who committed the murder”(273-275) of Laius, and who had brought this terrible plague of death and famine upon his beloved city. The irony …show more content…

Sophocles uses this strong antithesis to emphasize the fact that sometimes, one is not able to see the truth for he is blinded by the corrupt assumptions that he makes through what his eyes can comprehend. Tiresias appears before Oedipus, and accuses him of committing the murder, of which Oedipus strongly denies. But Tiresias could “see well that [Oedipus could] not understand.”(652) Tiresias could see while Oedipus was blinded by pride. The seer could also found not only Oedipus ignorant, but he could see that the chorus, or people of Thebes were also blinded, seeing their king “as just in their eyes.”(706) The prophet could see all the wicked in the King, and the real reason behind the nasty plague, but the chorus were blinded by their adoration and reverence for their savior

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