Oedipus - Blinded by Overconfidence and Enlightened through Sightlessness - Essay Example

?Oedipus – Blinded By Overconfidence and Enlightened Through Sightlessness Oedipus was born and bought up in royalty. Oedipus is quite intelligent and smart like any epic hero. He is able to solve the riddle of the Sphinx and establish himself as a hero in the history. He enjoys a happy family life and has all the fortune a man can dream of. But, he was never peaceful throughout his life. Oedipus lived a life of agony. He doubted Creon and Teiresias blindly, without second thought. Sophocles uses Sight as a metaphor for wisdom and the power to see beyond one's ego in this legend. Questioning the prophecies foretold in Oedipus’s life only lead him to disaster. The metaphor of blindness and sight in Oedipus The King suggests that the ability to see the truth of one's situation can have tragic results. This idea is evident when the traits, motivations, and language of each character are examined. Character Traits of Oedipus Oedipus is a man who gives importance to his head than his heart. Tragedy befalls him when he tries to alter the fate. Oedipus hears an Oracle prophecy hinting he will kill his father and marry his mother. He believes Corinth’s royal couple to be his parents. Hence, he simply stays out of Corinth to avoid causing any trouble to them. Even as a young man Oedipus believes he could change the fate through logical actions and science. But, the all powerful almighty just leads him out of Corinth only to kill his biological father Laius on the way (Oedipus Greek Mythology, 2004). Oedipus’s traits are revealed early in the story when he acts without discretion to banish the plague from his country. Oedipus’s intentions are good. But, his haste and over confidence simply makes him take one wrong decision after another. He kills Laius in a crossroad unnecessarily for a petty fight without thinking about the consequences. A person in his position would consider twice about handling people of his parents age. But, Oedipus blindly kills a man of his father’s age and marries a women who is aged enough to be his mother. He doesn’t give a second thought about anything and acts instinctively. Oedipus’s Greatest Motivation Oedipus's act of solving the Sphinx’s riddle makes him a headstrong man. He believes he can solve the mystery about his life without the help of the Gods. Oedipus’s motivation comes largely from this single victory. He cherishes it throughout the life as his own accomplishment without understanding it was yet another trap prepared for him to make him marry his biological mother Jacosta. He does not understand, questioning too much about ones fate will only lead to disaster. He turns blind to the several clues thrown before him about the murderer of Laius until the final confrontation with the Shepherd. Similarly, when Teiresias refuses to answer his questions, he unjustly accuses Creon for plotting against him. Though Oedipus occurs as an adult man throughout the play, his actions are childlike, immature and adamant almost all the time. His adamant nature is a result of his over confidence. It makes him take hasty and baseless decision which hurt others often. Oedipus’s Interactions with Teirsias Teiresias is a very important character in the story of Oedipus. He is a wise man who can actually see the future. He too is blind. Sophocles the author of Oedipus, the King purposely made the wise man blind to stress the metaphor. He is forcibly bought into the court of Oedipus as he does not wish to reveal fate's horrible game through his mouth. Teiresias is insulted and threatened in various ways by Oedipus. But, Teiresias bears all of them humbly, knowing well the life of Oedipus is finished the moment he opens his mouth. Gifted with amazing prophetic power he does not bow to any threat. His unflinching courage makes him challenge two mighty kings without any compromise. Teiresias's dedication to truth and unshakable belief in Gods is his greatest motivation. The words spoken by Teiresias are as follows. “To twit me with my blindness--thou hast eyes / Yet see'st not in what misery thou art fallen”, “the eyes that now /See clear shall henceforward endless night” (Storr, 2012). The word “Eyes” is stressed here with ample importance indicating the injudicious acts of Oedipus. The king actually mocks Teiresias as a mere blind man, when he refuses to tell him the destiny. What he fails to understand is Teiresias is much more enlightened than him though he lacks eyesight. Oedipus on the other hand lacks the inner intelligence to see the approaching danger even though he has eyes. Teiresias asks angrily, what is the use of having eyes as Oedipus cannot see his doomed fate with it. He also hints his eyesight will be darkened when he gets the actual wisdom to see the truth as it is. Sophocles tries to insist again and again sight is not necessary to see truth, but only heart. But Oedipus realizes it only too late. Oedipus’s Interaction with Creon Creon is Oedipus’s trusted friend and companion falsely accused by Oedipus of treachery . He was summoned by Oedipus to bring Teirisias to the court to find out who killed King Laius. He simply doubts Creon is plotting against him when the prophet refuses to say the truth to him. He blames Creon is plotting against him to catch the throne. Creon is heartbroken hearing this false accusation. Creon character uses eyes as a metaphor for acting with wisdom. His words “said with unflinching eye was it?” depicts great pain when Oedipus accused him looking at his face directly. Ironically, when the truth is out Oedipus was never able to look at him again. He had already taken out his own eye with dead Jacosta’s brooch pin. He realized Creon’s innocence and faithfulness only when he had actually become blind. Oedipus Ignoring Jacosta’s Pleas Oedipus and Jacosta’s disbelief in oracles is an example of their incapability to see the inner truth or rather accept it wholeheartedly. Jacosta is shown praying piously to the very God's she mocked in several places. Oedipus himself heaves a sigh of relief when he hears his foster father Polybus is death. He is happy he did not kill him and had made the Oracle false. But, he doesn't want to travel to the Corinth fearing he might seduce his mother Merope. Oedipus wishes with all his heart, the Oracle should be false. But, in some deep subconscious level he does know what is happening. He and his queen/mother Jacosta simply turn blind to that inner voice of wisdom. Even though Jacosta pleads with Oedipus at a certain point to stop trying to understand fate, he ruthlessly dismisses her. The heartbroken queen realizes she had married her own son before anybody discloses the truth to her and commits suicide (Wilson, 2012). Oedipus’s mourning Language Oedipus was so blind and ignorant when he actually had clear eyesight. This idea is evident through Teiresias accuses Oedipus in the court for being blind, places where he falsely accuses Creon and fails to acknowledge Jacosta’s pleas to stop questioning. He was able to understand the hidden meaning behind his life’s incidents too late and it costs him his eyesight. Blind Oedipus is a much matured man who has the answers to all his questions. But, sadly the cost he gave for that is also quite high. The language he uses also stresses the metaphor. It is not wrath filled or scholarly like Tieresias, but rather a mourning of an unfortunate man who is terribly shameful. “I dare not see, I am hiding / My eyes, I cannot bear / What most I long to see . . . . Unspeakable to mortal ear, / Too terrible for eyes to see" (Oedipus Rex / Oedipus the King, 2012). He deems his beloved nation and all things he loved the most as things he simply cannot bear to see. He actually means his daughters who are also his half-sisters. Oedipus just asks Creon to let him embrace them one last time. This act shows his unflinching love for them and his utter shame to look at them as well as Creon whom he accused baselessly. Oedipus is looked upon as a poor unfortunate man by everybody. Conclusion Every person thinks they are the best and can make miracles happen when fortune smiles at them and a few things in life goes according to their plan. In fact, every such person is similar to Oedipus, blind to see the hidden meaning behind it. The truth indeed is that we are all mere dolls in the hands of fate and we need something higher than eyesight to let go our ego, the light of truth to see the real meaning of life. References 1. Sophocles. “Oedipus the King”. Classics. Mit.edu. Trans F. Storr. 22 October 2012. 2. Sophocles . “Oedipus Greek Mythology”. Ancient-mythology.com. 2004. 22 October 2012 3. Sophocles. “Oedipus Rex / Oedipus the King”. BSU. Edu. 22 October 2012. 4. Wilson, Andrew. Oedipus: The Theban Story and its Interpretation. The Classic pages. 22 October 2012 Read More