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edits
Oedipus Rex: Difference between revisions
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* Sight and blindness | * Sight and blindness | ||
Oedipus’ life could be called a train wreck; that is, two trains were moving head-on toward each other—one oblivous to the truth and one with knowledge of the truth. When these trains met, the wreck took the {emotional and/or physical} lives of everyone close to Oedipus. Although he could physically see, he was blind to who he really was. Oedipus had no idea that his wife was actually his mother, that the people who raised him were not his biological parents, that his daughters were also his half-sisters, and that he had murdered his biological father. First, he brought in the blind prophet, Tiresias, who revealed the future. Second, he blindly denied these revealations. And third, after he could see the revealations were true, Oedipus blinded himself physically. | |||
In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has perfect physical vision. However, he is blind and ignorant to the truth about himself and his past. He desperately wants to know, to see, but he cannot (Hibbison). Ironically, Tiresias, the blind soothsayer, saw the future from the beginning. Neither Oedipus nor his wife, Jocasta, knew how devastating their lives were. When their true history was revealed by Tiresias, they refused to believe him. Tiresias meant two different things when he referred to sight. First, he knew Oedipus was blessed with the gift of perception; he was the only man who could "see" the answer to the Sphinx's riddle (verse 501). Second, he could not see what was right before his eyes. He was blind to the truth he sought (Little). | In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has perfect physical vision. However, he is blind and ignorant to the truth about himself and his past. He desperately wants to know, to see, but he cannot (Hibbison). Ironically, Tiresias, the blind soothsayer, saw the future from the beginning. Neither Oedipus nor his wife, Jocasta, knew how devastating their lives were. When their true history was revealed by Tiresias, they refused to believe him. Tiresias meant two different things when he referred to sight. First, he knew Oedipus was blessed with the gift of perception; he was the only man who could "see" the answer to the Sphinx's riddle (verse 501). Second, he could not see what was right before his eyes. He was blind to the truth he sought (Little). | ||