Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Blog #10 Assignment: Oedipus

Sight was the only way that Oedipus believed to "know" the truth. He fooled himself into thinking that what he saw on the surface was the true meaning of his situation. This caused him to be ignorant to many things, especially to the "fate" he was given. Teiresias even makes fun of Oedipus in the story. Oedipus is so full of himself that he cannot understand the hints that Teiresias is giving him throughout their conversation. Teiresias, a blind man, says that Oedipus with both of his eyes is more blind than he is. This is true because up to this point there have been many hints for Oedipus to realize that his oracle has come true, however he stays in the darkness of ignorance up until the very end. This is probably why in the end Oedipus blinds himself. His sight was not enough for him to see the truth and he was left ignorant, so he threw himself into darkness literally after being there figuratively for most of his life. I think that the play is saying that relying too heavily on just sight (understanding the surface of a situation) to find the truth will leave you stuck in the darkness of ignorance, making it impossible to actually discover the truth.

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