Oedipus 4 Essay, Research Paper

“An idea is an eye given by God for the seeing of God. Some of these eyes we can not bear to look out of, we blind them as quickly as possible.” (Russell Hoban, American novelist) Sometimes the reality of a situation is so harsh that, instead of facing it, people blind themselves to it. In Oedipus Rex, the theme of sightlessness is prevalent throughout the play. Sophocles uses ambiguity to keep from creating biases toward the characters so that, in a sense the audience, as well as the characters, are blind. Fate and blindness go hand in hand in the play. The main character, Oedipus, is a severe victim of fate, “…. damned in his birth, in his marriage damned, damned in the blood he shed with his own hand.” The hero Oedipus is tormented by the punishment of a crime that he did not commit. At birth, it was said that he would ” lie with [his] mother, breed children from whom all men would turn their eyes; and that [he] should be [his] father s murderer.” This fate is undeserved and makes one question the reasoning behind the fate. The gods seem heartless and cold in their treatment to an innocent man.

The aspect of sightlessness is first mentioned in the discussion between a soothsayer and Oedipus to find out the justification for the punishing, ” murdering sea,” that Thebes has been thrown upon. The city is being punished by the gods for an offense that has been committed by a criminal who does not know his crime. The question of justice arises and is dismissed just as fast because, “…justice is a concept. Muscle is the reality.” The action of the gods may not have seemed fair, but, to coin a phrase, “life isn’t fair.” From his birth, Oedipus was prophesied to a fate worse than death, so his parents then sentenced him to death. He was bound at the ankles and carried off by a shepherd to be killed. The shepherd then felt pity for the baby in his arms and did not wish to kill it so he gave the baby to another shepherd whom he herded his sheep beside. The first shepherd was aware of the fate the baby had, but he was blinded by pity and sentenced Oedipus to live his tragic lie. He was adopted by the king and queen of Corinth and was taught to believe that they were his parents. From the very time he was an infant, he was blinded from the truth and therefore blinded from his fate. After he was grown and a man, he was eating a feast and a, “…a drunken man maundering in his cups cried out that [he] is not [his] father’s son.” This statement bothered Oedipus greatly and he went to the temple at Delphi. There the gods informed him that he would kill his father and marry his mother. At hearing this, he automatically assumed that the prophesy was referring to his parents at Corinth and “…[he] heard all this and fled.” Had his parents at Corinth been honest to him about his lineage, Oedipus would not have fled that land and fulfilled the very prophesy he ran away from.

As he was traveling from Corinth, Oedipus encounters his real father, Laios, king of Thebes. Of course Oedipus is already out of sorts because of his departure from his homeland, and the King angers Oedipus and a fight begins and Oedipus, “…knocked him out of his car and he rolled on the ground. [He] killed him.” Blind to the fact that he has killed his own father and thus fulfilled the first part of the prophecy, he continues on and does not worry about the man he has killed. He eventually reaches his place of birth and saves the kingdom from the riddling sphinx. This feat earns him the title of king and the marriage of the queen, his mother. To all this, Oedipus is ignorant to the fact that his own words, “…If I was born to this fate, who could deny the savagery of God.” Everything he ran from to escape his fate only brought it closer. His country now lay in suffering because of the hypocritical curse of the gods, “…the herds are sick; children die unborn, and labor is in vain.” Why do the gods punish a city for a crime that only they had caused. Had the gods mentioned this fate, or only killed the cursed child, the lives of the people and the power of the kingdom would have remained strong.

Oedipus meets with a blind soothsayer to discuss the reasons for the country’s drought and suffering. It is ironic that the only person who can see the truth is the blind man. In the meeting, Teiresias is reluctant to tell what he knows to the king because the man he is looking for is none other than himself. After being thoroughly tormented by Oedipus, the soothe sayer says to him, “I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind: You cannot see the wretchedness of your life.” Instead of heeding Teiresias’ words, Oedipus becomes infuriated at him. He refuses to even begin to believe that he is at fault. Oedipus still believes that his father lives in Corinth, and therefore thinks that it would be impossible for Teiresias’s prophesy to be true.

A messenger comes from Corinth to bring news of the king’s death. This both saddens and joys Oedipus because he did not kill him as was prophesied. In rejoicing that he did not kill his father, Oedipus explains his fears of his ill fate with his parents. At hearing this, the man informs Oedipus that he is not the king of Corinth’s son, but he was delivered to them by the messenger who spoke. When asked where he received the child, the messenger said that the child was given to him by a man with whom he used to shepherd. This man was called for and would be the ultimate removal of the veil of darkness that covered Oedipus’ eyes. The shepherd came and revealed that the child he gave to the messenger from Corinth, “…was from the palace of Laios.” This information uncovered the mystery and revealed that Oedipus was the man he sought so diligently to punish. He was Laios’ son and the woman he was married to was his mother. Fate had overcome the obstacles to achieve its purpose.

In the end, Oedipus’ wife and mother hung and he, “…plunged down [the brooches] straight into his own eyeballs.” The punishment he gave himself was that he would never again be allowed to see the world which he brought so much shame upon. The prophesy had been fulfilled and fate took its course. However unfair fate is, one cannot argue with it, because it cannot and will not be changed.

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