Oedipus The King Blindness

Oedipus the King is a tragic play by Sophocles that illustrates a change from the predestination belief, to that of free choice. It represents the progress of humans. The primary focus of the play is Oedipus the major character, a discovery of who kills King Laius and the ramifications of the act (Sophocles). To express the intended points to the audience, Sophocles makes use of the theme of blindness. In the play, there are varying situations that relate to the ability to see both in a literal context and in the symbolic meaning. It is a motif that is evident in various parts of the play which makes it a major theme as will be discussed below.

Oedipus’ parents are blind; they lack enlightenment. At the start of Oedipus’ life, an oracle informs the parents that he would one day murder his father and get betrothed to the mother. In a quest to stand in the way of the prophecy, Laius the father orders that Oedipus be murdered. He is

It is ironical that despite his blindness, he manages to envision the certain inaccurate ways better than those who can see. He sees Oedipus destiny and his past as well even without eyes. Oedipus, on the other hand, is blind because after learning of the Oracle's prophesy, he thinks that Merope and Polybus, the couple that raised him would be the victims and therefore runs away to prevent fate from happening (Sophocles). He does not understand that he could not avert fate because those were not his birth parents. After he left the parents that adopted him, he comes across Laius on the way, and he kills him after a conflict. He is blind to the fact that he just murdered his biological father. Parts of the Oracle’s prophesy had passed. Still, in his oblivion, he becomes the King of Thebes after which he gets married to Laius widow blind to the fact that it was his mother, Jocasta. The blind men prophesy had come to