Oedipus the King

In this play, Oedipus the King, there are any references to eyes, sight, and the lacks thereof are made throughout Oedipus the King. There are parts where characters have limited physical sight, such as Teiresias's blindness, and there are also parts where their sight, in the form of perception, is limited. Most importantly, sight is used in the play as a symbol for knowledge, such as the how the oracles and the "seer" (16), Teiresias, can 'see' the truth. The play is about Oedipus's quest for knowledge and his attempts to avoid his fate. The underlying question of Oedipus the King is if one can escape their fate. Sophocles presents this question by using sight as a symbol for knowledge, and then leaves guidance for answering the question by showing that being sighted or blind can determine if one can control their fate. When Oedipus is completely blind to the truth, he is safe from fulfilling his terrible destiny. It is when he begins to see the truth that he starts to approach his fate. "...a drunken man maundering in his cups / Cries out that I am not my father's son! / ...the suspicion / Remained always aching in my mind," Here, on page 42, Oedipus, in a very minor way, starts to see the truth. By becoming slightly aware of the truth, Oedipus's situation only got worse as his knowledge only escalated with every curious inquiry. Because of what the drunkard said, Oedipus learned about the oracle ("[Oedipus] should lie with [his] own mother... / ...and that he should be his father's murderer" (42) ) and fled for safety from what he thought was his fate. However, he was doing the exact opposite; while fleeing from Corinth, he met his real father, King Laїos, and killed him. He then made his way to Thebes where he married his real mother, Iocaste. If Oedipus had never become even somewhat aware of the truth, he could have stayed blissfully ignorant, and away from fulfilling his destiny. Also, if Oedipus had been aware of the full truth from the beginning, it is easy to say that he could have avoided his fate. Thus so, Sophocles gives another hint: one is only safe from their fate when they are either completely aware of it, or completely blind to it.
The role reversal that Oedipus goes through is centered on sight, and the lack thereof. Throughout the play, Oedipus is searching for the truth about his past. Though the truth may be obvious to the audience at some points, Oedipus is blind to the truth that is right in front of him. "I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind: you cannot see the wretchedness of your life," Teiresias says on page 22 to Oedipus when Oedipus refuses to believe him. Teiresias is a blind man who sees the truth, while Oedipus is a sighted man who is blind to the truth. The more he mocks Teiresias, ("...you sightless, witless, senseless, mad old man!" (20) ) the more ironic Oedipus sounds to the audience because by the end of the play, Oedipus will switch roles and lose his sense of sight when he becomes aware of the truth. Teiresias even knows that Oedipus will be blinded by the end of the play, "...with only night upon your precious eyes." (23). Teiresias actually plays an important role in the story, as he foreshadows what will happen to Oedipus, and he helps show that sight is a symbol for knowledge: "I am not sure that the blind man can not see." (40) Oedipus says about Teiresias when he begins to realize that Teiresias may have been right about him. This shows that sight is used as a representation for knowledge because Oedipus is saying that Teiresias may be speaking the truth, for when he says "can not see" he may actually mean 'does not know the truth'.

Another theme that shows that sight is a symbol for knowledge is the oracles and their predictions. The oracles see the future and are aware of the truth; they know more than Oedipus and the other regular characters. The oracles' sight is questioned many times, and is an ongoing theme during the entire play. For example Locaste says the oracles are wrong, and then is immediately seen praying to the Gods. "From now on, where oracles are concerned, I would not waste a second thought on any...To you, then, Apollo, Lycean lord, since you are nearest, I turn in prayer," (46-48).
This idea of denial and willingness to see is thought-provoking; throughout the play Iocaste and Oedipus both choose whether to open their eyes to the truth, or intentionally be blind towards it. It takes Oedipus the entire play to permit his eyes to see the truth of his past, and when he finally does, he immediately chooses to blind himself, maybe as a symbol for the blissful ignorance he once had.

In conclusion, sight and blindness are very significant in Oedipus the King and are the center theme of the play as a whole. The play brings up the point that intellectual blindness is worse then physical blindness; a physically blind person, such as Teiresias, knows that he is blind and can cope without sight, while an intellectually blind person, such as Oedipus, does not even know he is blind, and can do nothing about it since he is unaware of his disadvantage. Intellectual blindness will almost always mean ignorance, and once Oedipus overcomes his blindness, he can only wonder if things would have been different if he had seen the truth. This question of whether a person's fate can be changed or avoided is the key question that the play brings up and it all comes down to sight and blindness.