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...
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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
In the play “Oedipus Rex by Sophocles” the themes of sight and blindness are produced to develop in the readers mind that it is not the eyesight, but insight that holds the key to truth and without It no amount of knowledge can help uncover the truth. Insight can be described as the ability to see what is going to happen. Characters like Oedipus and Teiresias hold a significant role in the play and other characters like Iocaste are also important in the play.
Roche, Paul. The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles. The New English Library Limited, London. New York and Scarborough, Ontario. 1958.
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.
... human sight for many days. This is a serious play, and its purpose is to teach and inform. The dichotomy of sight is the contrast of disparate elements: the physical and mental, the divine and human. Sophocles is trying to make a statement through his extensive examination of the basis of sight. He is calling the Greeks to a higher standard, calling them back to their roots, evoking images and themes of the Odyssey and the other epics. This play’s main focus has to be sight and divine irony, and its message in the end is that a person can look beneath the surface, for all people are dichotomies in a sense. We are the combination of the mundane and the unworldly; each is a part of us, and yet we are neither.
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.
Blindness can normally be defined as the inability of the eye to see, but according to this play, blindness is not always a physical quality, but a mental flaw some people posses. The author uses physical blindness, as well as intellectual blindness to illustrate Oedipus' status as a tragic hero. Throughout the play, blindness is seen as a main theme, where Sophocles explored not only physical blindness, but also intellectual blindness. The theme of blindness is split into two main categories, where one is the ability to see, while the other is the willingness to see. Oedipus, who sets out to rescue the city of Thebes by bringing the killer of Laius to justice, becomes the victim of fate where whatever choice he makes seems to be the wrong one. From this, the question of whether or not Oedipus' blindness of the truth was what ultimately destroyed him is one that can be answered with many opinions, as it all depends on how the reader perceived the play.
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.
Ironically, into the play the prophet, a seer, Teiresias, who is physically blind, but who is clairvoyant. This just makes Oedipus more ignorant to the true appearance of things. This man is blind but can "see" the truth about Oedipus, yet Oedipus, in all his physical perfection cannot see anything.
In Oedipus the King, Sophocles uses Oedipus and various other characters to convey the theme of blindness. King Oedipus ruled over Thebes, after solving the Sphinx’s riddle. After Oedipus is victorious over the sphinx, Oedipus becomes swollen with hubris leading into his figurative and literal blindness throughout the book. The author, Sophocles, uses a blind seer to convey the sense that a physically blind man can know more about the issues concerning Thebes over their respected rulers Oedipus, and Jocasta who were not physically blind like the blind seer. Oedipus was not only blind to the issues concerning Thebes, he was blind to almost everything else.
Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." Rpt. in Ten Greek Plays. Ed. L.R. Lind, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1957.
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.
Ancient Greeks cared deeply about the pursuit of knowledge. Although the truth was often a terrifying concept, they still saw it as a critical virtue. One of the main underlying themes in Oedipus the King is the struggle of sight vs. blindness. Oedipus’ blindness is not just physical blindness, but intellectual blindness as well. Sophocles has broken blindness into two distinct components. The first component, Oedipus's ability to "see" (ignorance or lack thereof), is a physical characteristic. The second component is Oedipus's willingness to "see", his ability to accept and understand his fate. Throughout the play, Sophocles demonstrates to us how these components.
Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 1997. 800-836.
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.