Robert Clark
AP Lit
Sept 25 2018
Oedipus Title
Blindness in Oedipus the King
It is very possible that people can be blind to the truth. For what they have been asking for or wanting to know could be sitting right in front of them, but they can’t see the answer. They were blind to the truth, they couldn’t see it. Similarities have been found between being enlightened and being blind. It is said that a blind person can see invisible things. They can read and see into the future. The blind might not be able to physically see, but they have another kind of sight. In Sophocles' King Oedipus, the blind prophet Teiresias is represented as the truth to Oedipus and his mother. Oedipus was blind from seeing the truth his entire life. He eventually did find the truth and lost his natural ability to see. The truth caused Oedipus to physically blind himself. Oedipus’ mother was also blind to her sons true identity. Even when Jocasta discovered the truth she refused to believe or accept it. This specific incident is an example of a blind person having high vision.
Oedipus started life with the prophecy that he would one day live to kill his father and sleep with his mother. Oedipus attempted to avoid this fate, his parents sent him to the mountains where they wanted him to die. But a shepherd graciously saved his life. This shepherd handed over Oedipus to Merope and Polybus. As soon had Oedipus found out about his prophecy, he left his home believing these people were his real parents. After he left his home, he met Laius, and then went on to murder him. He eventually became the king of Thebes after answering a riddle for the Sphinx. As king of Thebes, Oedipus became acquainted with and married Jocasta. He realized he had lived out the prophecy. Thebes began to fall into some bad times and one prophet blamed the polluter of the lands. Oedipus called to Teiresias for help. Teiresias told him that the polluter was to become the king. As Oedipus came to realizations he learned that he was in fact the polluter and that he had fulfilled the prophecy. When he found out the truth, he shoved pins into his eyes causing him to blind himself. He had been blinded to the truth up until this point.
Oedipus’ mother’s blindness was much more complex than ...
