Of Imagery In Oedipus The King And The Allegory Of The Cave

“A sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways- by a change from light to darkness or from darkness to light; and he will recognize the same thing happens to the soul” (Plato 3). In a literal meaning, the term dark is defined as, “with little or no light,” and the term light is defined as, “the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible” (Dictionary.com). However, when used in a piece of work, such as this one, darkness and light can be associated with an endless amount of meanings. For instance, by using imagery, any author can write a story about one event that’s happening, but have a deeper, more meaningful message that isn’t so straightforward. For example, in both Oedipus the King and “The Allegory

of the Cave,” Sophocles and Plato utilize dark and light imagery to ultimately convey the dangers of ignorance and the power of knowledge. After analyzing both pieces of work, Plato’s work is more effective in conveying that message. In both, the characters have to realize how ignorant they are before they discover the truth about what is happening.
“The Allegory of the Cave” is one work which demonstrates how the right use of imagery can convey a different message from what the story is originally leading us to.

In Plato’s short story, a group of men have been imprisoned in a dark cave their whole lives and know nothing else, only the shadows on the wall. This leads Plato into questioning, “What do you think he would say if someone told him that what he had formerly seen was meaningless illusion, but now being somewhat nearer and towards more real objects, he was getting a truer view” (Plato 2)? By using this example of light imagery, Plato is showing how knowledge is represented by the light. This is because when the men are in the dark cave they know nothing, only what their senses have been telling them. Plato is trying to get the point across that what you think you know can always be challenged by knowledge. At this point the man comes to the conclusion that everything he once knew isn’t what’s reality. However, the other men in the cave weren’t enlightened like he was, and when he came back down into the cave and his eyes weren’t used to the darkness and, “They would laugh at him and say that he had gone up only to have come back with his sight ruined” (Plato 2). He uses dark imagery representing the ignorance of these men. As mentioned above, the men only know sitting in the obsidian cave watching shadows on the walls, they don’t know about the light the man was exposed to or even the whole other world outside

of the cave. They think the man can’t see right because being in the light ruined his eyesight, but really going back to being in the dark is what ruined it. By using both the light and dark imagery, Plato is explaining the importance of knowledge and how being ignorant can limit you to only see life one way.
Ignorance and knowledge also tie into the theme of Oedipus the King. In Sophocles play, a man named Oedipus leaves the place where his parents rule in order to avoid a prophecy told to him. A blind man named Tiresias tells him that the prophecy states he would kill his own father and sleep with his own mother. Being the arrogant man he is, Oedipus thinks he has outsmarted the prophecy by leaving, and when the people of Thebes ask who killed their former king, Oedipus says, “ I will bring it all afresh. I will bring it all to light” (Sophocles 10). He believes he has the knowledge to solve the murder, but really he was the one who did it. Tiresias then goes on to say, “You have mocked at my blindness, but you, who have eyes, cannot see the evil in which you stand” (Sophocles 28). Tiresias is explaining how Oedipus is being so ignorant of his situation that even being a blind man, he can still see the situation more clearly than Oedipus can. Oedipus believes so strongly that the prophecy isn’t true, that when a shepherd confirms it, he stabs his eyes out. Sophocles uses light and dark imagery to convey the message that you can be completely blind to something you have done if you don’t have the right knowledge on the situation.
In both of these works, light and dark imagery is used to portray the ignorance and knowledge of their characters.

After analyzing both, the conclusion can be made that Plato was more effective in conveying his overall message. The main reason for this is because Sophocles only uses imagery to show that Oedipus is blind to himself and his own actions, whereas Plato utilizes imagery to explain how the man is blind to the world because of his lack of knowledge. For that reason, Plato’s work was more effective because by choosing to describe the cave and making it symbolize ignorance, you can not only picture it in your head, but also understand the meaning behind the use of the cave. The same goes for when the man is exposed to the light for the first time and gaining knowledge. Plato made sure the reader was able to picture the cave by describing the darkness and the the fire giving off the only light, while also making sure we understood their lack of knowledge of the real world. He does this by saying, “They could only suppose that the sound came from the shadow passing before their eyes” (Plato 1). Plato is describing the prisoners lack of knowledge while also giving us something to picture in our heads. While Sophocles does give us some examples of this, his are more straightforward and they aren't used as frequently as Plato’s were. This means he didn't give the reader a lot to picture in their head, and there wasn’t as much of a turning point in his work where you

could slowly figure out the true meaning. Although not as effective as Plato’s work, Sophocles work does convey a deeper message through the use of light and dark imagery.