Sight and Blindness

From the beginning of the play Oedipus’s arrogance is visible, they way in which he talks to his people as well as the priests. He refers to himself as “the man” which in this case would suggest that he believes himself to be god-like. Another aspect of Oedipus is also clearly portrayed from the beginning in his interaction with the priest. “Lord Oedipus, right here, in front of your eyes this city , it reels under a wild storm of blood” The fact that Oedipus needs to be told that there is a plague cursing his city shows that he is not only blind to what is happening around him but also that he is too consumed in his own power and wealth (evident as he enters the stage dressed in gold). However once he does find out he is adamant on fixing it, which demonstrates that even though he is arrogant he cares for his people. This is where is relentless quest for the truth begins as he finds out that the only way to lift the plague from the city is to avenge Liaos’s murder who he condemns outright without knowing that he himself is the killer which is what makes this play a tragedy.  

Oedipus’s interaction with Teiresias brings out really brings out the idea of blindness and sight. Teiresias is a physically blind prophet who knows the truth about who the killer is. Oedipus summons him to find the truth however Teiresias is not willing to speak as he knows that his “wisdom is a curse” for Oedipus and will lead to his downfall. He begs Oedipus to let it be “Let me go home. That way is best, for, for me.” And hints at the fact that Oedipus will be better off not knowing the truth. This refusal to speak get Oedipus angry as he sees it as a defiance of his power leaving him blind to the hints that Teiresias is giving. Oedipus becomes arrogant as he refers to the prophet as a  “stubborn old fool” which is quite ironic as Oedipus is the foolish one who is not able to see that the truth will mean his end. The severity of the consequences that the truth will have are brought out by the word “shroud” implying that it could cause death. Oedipus forces Teiresias to speak but is unwilling to believe what he has said because of his pride and ignorance. “The plague is you” is probably the simplest way of putting it without saying the actual words – you killed Liaos. However Oedipus is so blinded by rage that he doesn’t believe it and instead thinks that Teiresias is plotting against him. Teiresias continuously tries to warn Oedipus by foreshadowing what will happen if the truth were to be revealed but instead of listening to him and thinking carefully about what the meaning of the prophet’s words he makes rash decisions that cost him his throne. Ironically in this scene Oedipus feels that he has supreme power over Teiresias when in fact it is the prophet who holds the ultimate power.    

There is a great contrast between Oedipus at the beginning of the play and at the end of the play. He enters the stage limping at the beginning due to his foot injuries and is able to “see” but does not know the truth however at the end of the play he walks out standing straight not needing help even though he is blind and he can finally “see” the truth.  Throughout the play one would think that Oedipus brought it upon himself by being so arrogant and ignorant then again he was the king and had the right make use of his status and power and what really blinded him was his persistent search for the truth. This caused him to stop thinking and he therefore wasn’t able to see what was in front of him. This resulted in a lack of self-control that lead to him defying the power of the gods. However the gods got the better of him as fate prevailed even though Oedipus continuously tried to evade it.

“He that comes seeing, blind he shall go” refers to Oedipus’s fate that he will only be clear-minded when he sees the truth and faces its consequences which ironically can only happen when he is physically blind. There are two ways to interpret Oedipus’s last actions. The first is that he blinded himself because he could not bear to face the harsh reality. The other is that he doesn’t take the easy way out which would be to kill himself and instead punishes himself and then lives to face the reality which shows his pride once again however he here it is not blinding.