Oedipus Rex: Sight and Blindness

By: Olivia Chen, Franklin Choi, Chris Gillaspy, and William Fielding

"Where to find it now, the trail of the ancient guilt so hard to trace?"

(Sophocles 123-124)

Introduction

Any human who tries to avoid the certain future loses sight of the truth and brings upon their destruction.

Throughout Oedipus The King, sight and blindness is a recurring theme that Sophocles portrays through dramatic irony and character development. Sight is a metaphor for knowledge of the truth, which both Oedipus and Jocasta lack.

"No, I'll start again--I'll bring it all to light myself!"

(Sophocles 150)

Oedipus Rex: Sight and Blindness

"I will speak out now as a stranger to the story, a stranger to the crime"

(Sophocles 248-249)

vv

Blindness to the Truth: Jocasta

"Fail to solve the mystery of my birth? Not for all the world"

(Sophocles 1161-1162)

• Oedipus and Jocasta become blind to the truth of their happy lives, leading them closer to their doom.

Jocasta assures Oedipus that prophecies are meaningless by telling him the unfulfilled fate of her son:

"He never had the chance to kill his father. They destroyed him first" (Sophocles 946-947)

Her words show dramatic irony because she is unable to see the identity of her husband, who is the son she abandoned many years ago to escape her fate.

"You, prophecies of the Gods, where are you now?" (Sophocles 1036)

Jocasta pays no attention to the foreboding prophecy, refusing to think ahead or take precautions.

Conclusion

Humans who try to change the inevitable future lose sight of the truth and bring upon their own downfall.

"The blackest things a man can do, I have done them all!"

Sophocles (1541-1542).

Oedipus and Jocasta are blind to the horrible crimes they commit. When they seek to find true sight, the truth is revealed and their doom is cast upon them; both their sight of the truth and blindness to the truth resulted in their destruction.

Sight and blindness can be the deciding factor between a man's success or failure to attain happiness.

Oedipus' Downfall

"O god--all come true, all burst to light! O light--now let me look my last on you!"

(Sophocles 1306)

• Oedipus' and Jocasta's revelation of the truth sends them into the depths of despair.

Jocasta's Downfall

Oedipus, in deep shame of his horrible deeds, begs Creon to exile him from Thebes:

"Take me away, far, far from Thebes"(Sophocles 1477)

This is an example of character development; Oedipus is a mixed character because he commits horrible deeds yet accepts his downfall upon seeing the truth.

Oedipus gouges out his eyes in a

mad act of self-hate:

"raising the pins, raking them

down his eyes. / And at each

stroke blood spurts from the

roots" (Sophocles 1411-1412).

His actions show significant dramatic

irony; though finally able to see the

truth, he renders himself physically

blind, overwhelmed by his new sight

of the truth.

Jocasta hangs herself in despair over the crimes she committed:

"We saw the woman hanging by the neck, / cradled high in a woven noose" (Sophocles 1395-1396).

Jocasta, no longer blind to the truth of her life, is driven from the heights of happiness as a proud queen to misery great enough to take her life. She was not strong enough

to accept her newfound "sight" and

instead succumbed to death.

"I must know my birth, no matter how common it may be"

(Sophocles 1184)

Blindness to the Truth:

Oedipus

Tiresias tells Oedipus:

"You with your precious eyes, / you're blind to the corruption of your life" (Sophocles 470-471).

The irony in this statement stems from the two characters' contrasts; Tiresias being blind but able to see the truth, while Oedipus has physical sight but is unable to see the horrible deeds he committed.

Oedipus proclaims:

"I will fight for him like a father" (Sophocles 301).

Oedipus is quick to avenge the murderer without full knowledge of the circumstances at hand. His words show his character, and are ironic; he is the true murderer of Laius.

The Struggle to Avoid the Future

• Both Jocasta and Oedipus attempt to escape their future, which they learned through a prophecy.

"I'll search out every word"

(Sophocles 330)

Jocasta:

Jocasta tells Oedipus that she and Laius killed their son so that the prophecy would not be fulfilled:

"My baby / no more murdered his father than Laius suffered - his wildest fear - / death at his own son's hands" (Sophocles 794-795).

The dramatic irony lies in the truth that her son did indeed murder his father, and that very son is whom she is addressing.

Oedipus:

Oedipus tells Jocasta of how he attempted to change his fate by running from his father and mother:

"As I fled I reached the very spot / where the great king, you say, met his death" (Sophocles 881-882)

The irony of this quote is that while Oedipus attempted to alter his fate, he fulfilled the prophecy.