Further, the fact it relates, if common in the ancient world, would not deserve such strong wording to people who were familiar with such things as blind oracles.
Rather, even were blind oracles commonplace in the ancient world, this one is special because he is not just a conveyor of bad news to Oedipus, but a kind of archetype, symbol, or personification of the message Sophocles is sending us that vision and blindness are not actually dichotomous, but intrinsically entangled.
Oepidus is another archetype of the same thing: sight and blindness coexisting, not sequentially, but simultaneously.
Another important way in which Oedipus was both blind and yet possessed of light becomes clear when we think about the steps he has taken to avoid killing his father. When we read Oedipus Rex, we like to think that finding ourselves in his shoes we could have done better. Were the oracle of Delphi still in business today and were he to give us the kind of news he gave to Oedipus that we were destined to kill father and marry mother, would we act any more wisely than did Oedipus? The mistake Oedipus makes is in assuming that the oracle was referring to his foster-father, Polybus. So, when he first hears the words of the oracle that he was destined to murder his father and raise children with his own mother, the first thing he does is get out of Corinth, putting as much distance between himself and those whom he thought his parents as he can, and we know what happened on the way to Thebes.
Now we read this and we think, "Ah, if only he had gone straight back and told his mother and father what the Delphic oracle had told him, they would have shown him the light, and, living happily ever after...
This is because they are not learning from the lessons of the past and they do not see things for what they really are. When this takes place, there is a possibility that they are open to more problems through failing to understand and address critical issues. Oedipus is used to show this sense of arrogance and contempt for the truth. (Sophocles) ("The Oedipus Plays") Evidence of this can be
Oedipus Rex Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex is the third play in a trilogy telling the extended story of a Greek ruling family. The ability to see things as they really are is a recurring issue for Oedipus, who eventually becomes King. To emphasize Oedipus' ability to see things only as he wanted to see them, Sophocles used the metaphor of vision vs. blindness throughout the play. Interpreting the concept of vision literally,
"...thou hast eyes, Yet see'st not in what misery thou art fallen," Tieresias tells him. Oedipus is warned through-out the story that he ought to discontinue his search. Those who have spiritual eyes to understand and to see what he will find in the end know that it is a thing which is better left unseen. Yet he insists on seeking to shine the light of knowledge upon it and
In shaping his dramatic theory, Aristotle surveyed the drama of his time and developed certain concepts regarding the nature of the tragic hero. The tragic hero must be an important person with a character flaw that causes him to make a great mistake leading to tremendous suffering and a fall from his high status. The tragedy derives from the fact that none of what occurs is the tragic hero's
Oedipus does not show unusual arrogance, no more so than his father did when he abandoned his child to cheat death. Oedipus leaves his natural parents out of a desire to protect them, as any son possessing filial pity should do, in the eyes of the Greeks. However, in contrast to the Christian economy of good and evil, where good is rewarded and evil is punished by God, in ancient
By the end of the play, Othello does not even try to seek out the truth. When he finally talks to Desdemona, he is so outraged what she has to say does not matter. His mind is already made up and she does not stand a chance. Truth becomes apparent for him when it is too late. He tells Lodovico that he is Desdemona's murderer and that he "loved
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