Blindness of Oedipus

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After doing some research on 'Blindness of Oedipus', I came across a lot of information. It seems that one of the main underlying themes in Oedipus Rex is not just physical blindness, but intellectual blindness as well. Sometimes the blind can "see" more than the sighted. During a scary movie or a horrific event, people may cover their eyes, choosing not to see the truth. As human beings, we often become entrenched in the material world, becoming oblivious to and unable to see the most apparent truths. Oedipus, the main character in Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex, is known for his intelligence. He is ignorant to the truth of his life and his past and is struggling to see it He is blind to it. Teiresias, a blind prophet, is blind to the physical world but can see Oedipus's truth plainly. He seems to be well respected to everyone, except Oedipus at first, he questions his credibility. Teiresias tries to show Oedipus the way of seeing the unseen truth. After continuing to pursue Oedipus, he then realizes what action must be taken: to overcome the blindness. After reading multiple articles, it makes sense that the rest of the play is about the actions he takes to concur the blindness. By the end of the play Oedipus learns the true nature of things - his past is revealed to him. He sees the truth to clearly and cannot accept his fate, so in an act of cowardice he blinds himself, which in reality doesn't change Oedipus's fate at all. From what I researched, I came to the conclusion that Oedipus didn't want to accept the situation the way he saw it, so he decided he didn't want to see at all. He is incapable of escaping the destiny that the Gods have set out for him. his way of coping with the horrifying truth was to poke himself blind. All of the actions he took to try and realize his own truth, to try and create an all seeing person, ended up not being able to see

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