Sophocles has been known for using his plays not merely to entertain his audience, but to deliver a message too. Out of all of the important lessons in his plays, Wisdom stands out as the most impact full. After all, "No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding"(Plato 1/2). In the play Oedipus the King, Sophocles uses the blindness of Teriesias, Jocasta, and Oedipus to point out how understanding is far greater than vision alone. In the play Oedipus the King, Sophocles use the blindness of Teiresias to point out the great power behind wisdom and understand. "Teiresias, by your art you read signs and secrets of the earth and the sky; therefore you know, although you cannot see" (Sophicles 58). "Teiresias, although he had no physical sight, was still far greater than any other man or woman in Thebes" (Stevens 2/5). "The plague that is besetting us; from this no other man but you, my lord, can save us" (Sophicles 58). When asked to reveal the pollutant, Teiresias was apprehensive do to the understanding of what he knew. "Ah! What burden knowledge is when knowledge can be of no avail" (Sophicles 58). Teriesias' wisdom was so great that once he revealed it, even Oedipus cried out "I do fear that prophet was not blind" (Sophicles 73). "Through Teiresias, Sophicles points out that there is great power behind understanding" (Stevens 3/5) In Oedipus the King, Sophocles also uses Jocasta's blindness to reveal the importance of understanding. "Jocasta was one of the few people in Thebes who didn't believe in the power of prophecy" (Conold 3/5). "Why, have no fear of that. Listen to me, and you will learn that the prophetic art touches our human fortunes not at all" (Sophicles 72). "It was only because of a lack o... ... middle of paper ... ...blindness. Works Cited Conold, Jerry. "Blindness in Oedipus." International Student Resources 22, October 2001. Available: http://www.writingsource.com Frosh, Stephen. "Key Concepts in Psychoanalysis." Washington Square, New York, New York University Press, 2003 Gregory, Tim. "Blindness in Oedipus Rex." Literature Zone 23, September 2000. Available: http://www.essayhelp.com Plato "Plato Quotes." Fun Facts 25, October, 2000. Available: http://www.funfacts.com Sophicles. "Oedipus the King." Oxford World's Classics. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998 Stevens, Scott. "Oedipus Rex" A Deeper Look Into The Play 2, April 1998. Available: http://www.pathguy112.com
Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed.Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 1997. 800-836.
Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed.Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 1997.
Roche, Paul. The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles. The New English Library Limited, London. New York and Scarborough, Ontario. 1958.
People can be “blinded” to the truth. The answer to their question or solution to their problem may have been obvious. Yet, they could not "see" the answer. They were blinded to the truth. Associations have been made between being blind and enlightened. A blind person is said to have powers to see invisible things. They "see" into the future. The blind may not have physical sight, but they have another kind of vision. In Sophocles' King Oedipus, Teiresias, the blind prophet, presents the truth to King Oedipus and Jocasta. Oedipus has been blinded to the truth his whole life. When he does find the truth, he loses his physical vision. Because of the truth, Oedipus blinds himself. Jocasta was blind to the true identity of Oedipus. Even when she found out the truth, she refused to accept it. In this case, those who are blind ultimately do have a higher vision - the truth.
Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed.Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 1997.
Albert, Susan Wittig. "Oedipus Rex by Sophocles." World Literature. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2001. 301-71. Print.
Sophocles. The Oedipus Cycle. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Harvest/HBJ-Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1939.
Oedipus the King. Tranlsted by Stephen Berg and Diskin Clay. In Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984.
The great Sophoclean play, Oedipus Rex is an amazing play, and one of the first of its time to accurately portray the common tragic hero. Written in the time of ancient Greece, Sophocles perfected the use of character flaws in Greek drama with Oedipus Rex. Using Oedipus as his tragic hero, Sophocles’ plays forced the audience to experience a catharsis of emotions. Sophocles showed the play-watchers Oedipus’s life in the beginning as a “privileged, exalted [person] who [earned his] high repute and status by…intelligence.” Then, the great playwright reached in and violently pulled out the audience’s most sorrowful emotions, pity and fear, in showing Oedipus’s “crushing fall” from greatness.
Throughout Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, there are many references to sight, blindness, and seeing the truth. Characters, such as Tiresias, are able to accurately predict what Oedipus’ fate will be through their power to see the truth in a situation. Oedipus maintains a pompous and arrogant personality throughout the play as he tries to keep control of the city of Thebes and prove the speculations about his fate as falsities. Ironically, although Tiresias is physically blind, he is able to correctly predict how Oedipus’ backstory will unfold, while other characters, such as Jocasta and Oedipus are oblivious to the truth even though they can physically see. Thus, we can conclude that the power of “seeing the truth” deviates greatly from the power of sight in reality and can lead to an expedited fate or a detrimental occurrence.
Sophocles introduces a prophet, a seer, Teiresias, into the play. Teiresias is a wise, old man who has supernatural powers to interpret the past and predict the future. Ironically, Teiresias is physically blind, but can “see” the truth about Oedipus. Oedipus has trouble imagining that his father life was taken at his hands. It signifies that Oedipus as a man is ignorant to the true appearance of things - this blind man can "see" the truth about Oedipus, yet Oedipus, in all of his physical perfection, cannot.
" Sight" and "Blindness" can be considered one of the main and most important themes in Oedipus Tyrannus. The themes of blindness and sight can be looked at both metaphorically and literally. When defining both physical and Metaphorical blindness, the following definitions are very useful: to be physically blind is, naturally, to be "unable to see," and metaphorical blindness is an " inability or unwillingness to understand or discern." Throughout the play, throughout the play Sophocles keeps these two components at the center of the action and uses them to create dramatic irony. When reading this play the reader must take in to account who can "see" and who is "blind" either figuratively and literally.
Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." Rpt. in Ten Greek Plays. Ed. L.R. Lind, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1957.
Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 1997. 800-836.
Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. The Bedford Introduction to Drama. By Lee A. Jacobus. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. 73-94. Print.