The concept of sight is one of the most complex metaphors used in the Greek tragic play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles. As a metaphor, sight refers both to the literal meaning of seeing, as well as to the figurative sense of knowing and understanding. The relevance of this concept is portrayed by the characters of Oedipus and the prophet Teiresias, who symbolize different aspects of sight and blindness. For instance, Tiresias is blind, suggesting a lack of literal sight. On his part, Oedipus is ignorant of his parentage and role in fulfilling an old prophecy, suggesting figurative blindness. In this regard, the idea of sight is portrayed in the play to refer both to the literal ability to see, as well as the figurative ability to perceive and understand.
From the beginning of the play, the character of Oedipus displays an acute lack of the figurative ability of sight. Although he is not physically blind, Oedipus is metaphorically blind in the sense that he is unaware that his actions have already fulfilled an old prophecy he has been trying to avoid (Anders 313). The audience learns that Oedipus’ father had been told by an oracle that he would be killed by his son, who would then enter into an incestuous marriage with his mother. Determined to avoid this prophecy, Oedipus’s parents gave the order for their infant to be killed and disposed of.
However, the child is rescued and adopted by the king of Corinth. When the child grows into adulthood, he hears a rumor that he is not the biological son of King Polypus of Corinth. He visits an oracle to learn about his true parents but is instead told that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Fearful of the implications of the prophecy, Oedipus runs away from Corinth to avoid fulfilling the prophecy. On his way to Thebes, he meets and kills an elderly man, and once in the city, he is made the king after solving the riddle of the Sphinx. Part of his reward for solving the riddle is marriage to the widowed queen of Thebes, Queen Jocasta.
The elements of figurative blindness are evident in this scenario because Oedipus is unaware that he has unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy that he, and his father before him, had tried to avoid. This is because the man he had killed at the crossroads was his biological father, the late King Laius, while the widowed queen he had married was his biological mother. Oedipus alludes to his lack of figurative sight when he says that he had run away from Corinth to avoid an ominous prophecy. He states that:
To Delphi, and Apollo sent me back
Baulked of the knowledge that I came to seek.
But other grievous things he prophesied,
Woes, lamentations, mourning, portents dire;
To wit, I should defile my mother’s bed
And raise seed too loathsome to behold,
And slay the father from whose loins I sprang (Oedipus the King 791-797).
These words reveal Oedipus’ belief that by running away from Corinth he was avoiding the prophecy. In reality, it turns out that leaving Corinth brought him closer to the prophecy. In this regard, Oedipus displays a lack of sight, figuratively, because he is ignorant not only of his true parentage but of the fact that he has already fulfilled the prophecy he was trying to avoid.
Oedipus’s address to the people of Thebes who had come to him to help solve the plague affecting the city suggests that he is blind to his role in causing the plague. He says that “I grieve for them, for their sorrow and loss, far more than I grieve for myself” (Oedipus the King 112-113). In reality, Oedipus should pity himself because of the misery that awaits him. At the same time, he should pity himself because he is the pollution that has brought a curse upon the city of Thebes (Kousoulis et al.). However, his words suggest that he is blind to all these facts, implying a lack of knowledge, and therefore, a lack of foresight.
The character of Tiresias symbolizes the difference between literal and figurative sight in the play. Although physically blind, Tiresias has the foresight of the fate awaiting Oedipus. His gift of prophecy represents his figurative sight because he sees into the future and understands events that the rest of the characters could not. For example, he cautions Oedipus against pushing with the investigation to find the killer of King Laius. This is because Tiresias already knows that Oedipus himself is the killer. However, ignorant of this fact (and therefore blind to reality), Oedipus maintains that “we could be saved only by tracking down Laios’ killers only by killing them or sending them into exile” (Oedipus the King 417-417). The fact that Tiresias already knows who to blame while Oedipus is not aware that he is the killer he seeks to punish, suggests that sometimes those with sight are figuratively blind, and the blind are figuratively sighted.
The case may be made that Oedipus is unable to see the truth, even when he is staring at it. This is because those around him, including his mother-wife Jocasta, warn him against pursuing the investigation of Laius’s murder. However, Oedipus’s lack of foresight, which contributes to his character flaw, could not allow him to relent (Dino 52). When Jocasta learns that Oedipus is her son and that the prophecy has already been fulfilled, she warns him against digging up the truth about his parentage. She tells him: “God help you Oedipus, you were born to suffer, born to misery and grief. These are the last words I will speak, ever Oedipus” (Oedipus the King 1338-1342). Misguided by his blindness, Oedipus is unable to see that Jocasta was telling him that he is the murderer (Silverman). Instead, he responds by saying that “I must discover who I am…Perhaps Jacosta is ashamed of my low birth, ashamed to be my wife. Like all women, she is proud” (Oedipus the King 1349-1352). These words demonstrate the level of Oedipus’s blindness, in the figurative sense; he thinks that Jocasta is ashamed of his low parentage when in reality she is warning him that he will not like the truth regarding his origins. The prophet Tiresias intimates that there is more than meets the eye, which Oedipus should have taken as a warning and stopped pushing to learn the truth. He tells Oedipus that “I say you live in shame, and you do not know it, do not know that you and those you love most wallow in shame, you do not know in what shame you live (Oedipus the King 495-499). Had he had the foresight, Oedipus would have realized that he is the late King’s murderer and stop pushing for truths that would put him and his entire family in shame.
The irony of the encounter between Tiresias and Oedipus is that the physically blind (Tiresias) is the one who understands the truth of the matter, while the physically sighted (Oedipus) is blind to the truth. In a twist of irony, Oedipus lashes at Tiresias by mocking his physical blindness, unaware that it is he (Oedipus) who is blind to the truth. He tells Tiresias that “You have no truth, you’re blind. Blind in your eyes. Blind in your ears. Blind in your mind” (Oedipus the King 502-503). Tiresias responds by saying that “You have eyes to see with, but you do not see yourself, you do not see the horror shadowing every step of your life, the blind shame in which you live, you do not see where you live and who lives with you” (Oedipus the King 553-558). Oedipus’s mockery of Tiresias’s blindness suggests that he is short-sighted since he can only see what is in front of him. In addition, it shows that he is blind as far as his intuition is concerned because he cannot connect events to see that he is at the center of the plague that has befallen Thebes (Kousoulis et al.). In contrast, Tiresias, though blind, demonstrates that he is only physically handicapped, but his intuition and insights are far superior to Oedipus’s. Oblivious of the fact that the truth will shame and hurt him, Oedipus pushes on with the search for the killer, saying:
Let the storm burst, my fixed resolve still holds,
To learn my lineage, be it ne’er so low.
It may be she with all a woman’s pride
Thinks scorn of my base parentage.
Thus sprung why should I fear to trace my birth?
Nothing can make me other than I am (Oedipus the King 1077-1086).
These words show that Oedipus is completely convinced that he is not the killer and that he is willing to unearth the truth whatever the consequences.
Nevertheless, the moment of realization causes Oedipus to acknowledge that he had been blind all along and that he took the actions he did out of ignorance. He tells the people that “the man I murdered- he’d have murdered me! I am innocent! Pure in the eyes of the law, blind, unknowing, I, I came to this!” (1210-1215). This confession suggests that Oedipus has finally accepted that he was blind to the truth about his connection to the man he killed. Interestingly, his self-defense is the blindness he had mocked Tiresias of, suggesting his lack of foresight. For instance, he is the killer he is seeking and is as blind as the person he is mocking.
To conclude, the concept of sight is used both literally and figuratively in the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles. The literal usage refers to the physical blindness that affects the prophet Tiresias, who cannot see what is around him. However, it is the figurative usage of the term that is of symbolic significance. Figuratively, the main character, Oedipus, is blind to the truth about his parentage and his role in fulfilling the oracle’s prophecy. He is blind to the fact that he is the murderer of King Laius, and that he has been in an incestuous marriage with his mother. In the end, the play demonstrates that lack of foresight is far dangerous than physical blindness, as it can cause a person to make costly errors in reasoning and actions.
Works Cited
Anders, Zachrisson. “Oedipus the King: Quest for Self‐knowledge – Denial of Reality: Sophocles’ Vision of Man and Psychoanalytic Concept Formation.” The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, vol. 94, no. 2, 2013, 313-330. Web.
Dino, Sain. “Role of Fate in the Play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.” Journal of International Research, vol. 5, no. 2, 2016, 50-54. Web.
Kousoulis, Antonia, A. “The Plague of Thebes, a Historical Epidemic in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex.” Another Dimension, vol. 18, no. 1, 2012, Web.
Silverman, David L. Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus. Reed College, 1995, Web.
Sophocles. Oedipus the King. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012.