Pride In Oedipus The King Essay

Excessive pride has always been a favorite fatal flaw among Greek playwrights, as it is something that can be sympathised with. In Oedipus the King by Sophocles, pride becomes the true downfall of many of the characters. With both Oedipus, Jocasta, and later Creon in Antigone each character is ‘blind’ to the world around them; a blindness that is from ignorance stemmed from their self-glorification and their self-assurance that they are above the gods’ prophecies. Using metaphors and dramatic irony, Sophocles establishes his theme of the problems stemming from pride and how pride destroyed its owner.

A big theme which surrounds around the idea of pride is that those blinded by it think that fate is inescapable. Oedipus and Jocasta both reference their prophecy and how despite it being foretold they have managed to escape their fate. It is through dramatic irony that the readers know better. ''On these accounts

Oedipus, however, despite having the ability to see is the true blind character. For, while he can see the evidence that lays plainly before him pointing to the prophecy, he is blinded by pride and does not see it for what it is. A part of the dialogue foreshadows this irony “In this land, said the god; "who seeks shall find;Who sits with folded hands or sleeps is blind."”. This line, spoken by Creon, is the central theme surrounding this story. For, in this story, blindness is not the inability to see the earth around you but the inability to see past one's pride. This metaphor continues on when Oedipus learns of the true nature of what he has done and chooses to gouge out his eyes with pins rather than see what he has done. Through this he sees past his pride and sees what he was incapable of seeing when he had the ability of sight; he became blind like Tiresias, only in sight, when he saw, figuratively, past his