Reflective Statement

I have always had interest in Greek culture, mainly food and architecture as they attracted

me in their uniqueness. However, during the interactive oral, I learned that Greek culture

had more to it than what I had interest in. I understood their beliefs about gods and the

possible reason why Sophocles wrote the play.

From the online articles I read, I have learned how big of a sin Oedipus did by being

arrogant and challenging the gods where he got his punishment. I learned that Oedipus was

a tragic hero where his downfall was led by his blindness to the truth and his hubris.

Another important fact I learned was the importance of gods for the Greeks back then as

they believed in twelve gods. Each god represented a super power that is explained by

science today. For example, Zeus the king of all gods had his symbol as lightning bolts, the

eagle, and the bull. The explanation behind their twelve gods is that they need to justify

what they could not explain with science, and for guidance in their lives.

Throughout the interactive oral I learned true the role of women in their society, women

were seen as child bearers as in multiple occasions Oedipus reflected his wife as an object

or a child bearer. But the most important thing learnt was the possible reasons why

Sophocles wrote the play. One important piece of the play was Oedipus’s hubris which led

to his downfall might have had a message to the people back then. Maybe Sophocles has

seen an increase of ignorant, arrogant people in the society and he used the play as a

message for the people to be aware of their inner self as it will lead to their downfall. Finally,

the important message of the play was the punishment Oedipus got for challenging the

gods and his hubris blinding his sight off the truth.

Word count: 318

1|Page
 Oedipus’ and Jocasta’s blindness towards the truth in Oedipus The King.

The correlation between blindness and sight to the ideas of knowledge and ignorance was

established in the play as it explains the reason behind every character’s way of thinking

and acting. Oedipus the King of Thebes was the main character who had his downfall

because of his blindness to the truth. Even after it was directly shown to him by Teiresias

who says “Then I would ask you to stand by the very words which you yourself proclaimed

and from now on not speak to me or these men. For the accursed polluter of this land is

you” (Sophocles 10), Teiresias who was actually blind while ironically Oedipus is

metaphorically blind to the truth. Flashbacks were used too as all Greek tragedies take

place in one location and in twenty-four hours.

Oedipus with his powerful statues and respected position was blind and ignorant due to his

massive ego that he even challenged Teiresias when he confronted him with the truth “I say

that with your dearest family, unknown to you, you are living in disgrace. You have no idea

how bad things are” (10). Which made Oedipus mad and promised a punishment upon him.

Those words from Teiresias were supposed to guide Oedipus to figure the truth behind the

death of Laius and the disgraceful life he was living. However, Oedipus refused to listen,

and he started to throw blame on other people like Creon, accusing him of trying to

overthrow him off his throne to take his place. Oedipus says, “Is this something Creon has

devised or is it your invention?” (11). This shows the insecurity Oedipus was living with

which made him trust no one even the closest of his friends and family. This clash built a lot

of tension and disgust in the audience as they saw the truth in front of them while Oedipus

still could not see it.

One thing that proves Oedipus’s ignorance was the incident between him and king Laius,

because of their pride and egos they ended up battling against each other that led to the

2|Page
death of King Laius. This situation explains the level of ignorance that Oedipus had, which

built disgust in the emotions of the audience towards Oedipus as his act was influenced by

his hotheadedness.

The most important thing Oedipus cared about was his throne that boosted his ego to the

skies that he reached a point where he started blaming everyone for the death of Laius and

thinking they are targeting him next. One man who took such accusations was Creon.

Oedipus says “You! How did you get here? Has your face grown so bold you now come to

my own home—you who are obviously the murderer of the man whose house it was, a thief

who clearly wants to steal my throne?” (14). Oedipus was in such denial and so defensive

that even Oedipus called out the Chorus Leader and accused him that he wants him dead

“By this point you should clearly understand, when you request this, what you are doing—

seeking to exile me from Thebes or kill me” (18). Which shows how his throne made him

blind against the truth and ignorant towards his friends. Those accusations made by

Oedipus to his friends made the audience disgusted towards his character because no one

but a selfish person looks only after himself.

However, Oedipus was not the only blind one in the play, Jocasta too had the same

problem. She cared too much about herself that even after all the evidence points at

Oedipus she still was in denial and tried to convince Oedipus to stop only because she

cared about herself “In the name of the gods, no! If you have some concern for your own

life, then stop! Do not keep investigating this. I will suffer—that will be enough” (28), those

lines explain her character, she doesn’t want people to talk about her and Oedipus which

expresses the way Jocasta dies at the end of the play. This shows that Oedipus and

Jocasta forgot about the most important thing which is the citizens of Thebes and they only

look after their egos this displays how ignorant they both are.

3|Page
However, Jocasta had a clear problem that Oedipus didn’t have, which she did not believe

in the prophecy. She believed that the prophecy will not be true because she abandoned

her child after he was born as the prophet told them this child will grow up to kill his father.

"All right, forget about those things you’ve said." Listen to me and ease your mind with this

— no human being has skill in prophecy... Besides, before our child was three days old,

Laius fused his ankles tight together and ordered other men to throw him out on a mountain

rock where no one ever goes” (19). In the Greek culture the Gods have a very important

role in their lives, but Jocasta is ignorant to the point where she did not believe them

because of her hubris. She said “King Laius once received a prophecy. I won’t say it came

straight from Apollo, but it was from those who do assist the god. It said Laius was fated to

be killed by a child conceived by him and me. Now, at least according to the story, one day

Laius was killed by foreigners, by robbers, at a place where three roads meet ... And so,

Apollo’s plan that he’d become the one who killed his father didn’t work" So, don’t concern

yourself with prophecies” (19). This has left the audience in a shock as this level of

ignorance is disgusting.

Oedipus after his clash with Jocasta was so foolish and blind that he thought she was

ashamed of his origins because he wasn’t born royalty like her “Then let it break, whatever

it is. As for myself, no matter how base born my family, I wish to know the seed from where

I came. Perhaps my queen is now ashamed of me and of my insignificant origin— she likes

to play the noble lady” (29).

When the messenger arrives with the servant Oedipus finally is aware of the truth and he

realized how blind he was to the truth that was lying right in front of his eyes. But still his

ego takes over and he storms over to Jocasta’s room where he finds her dead. The

messenger “Then we saw her. She was hanging there, swaying, with twisted cords roped

round her neck” (33). This moment made everyone disgusted by their actions. Jocasta has

shown her weakness and ignorance where she hung herself to avoid living in shame, even
4|Page
though she was the first to realize the truth her pride blinded her, which led to her sad

ending.

Finally, Oedipus realized he fulfilled the prophecy and the cover on his sight was removed,

his pride gone and how miserable he was “he ripped the golden brooches she wore as

ornaments, raised them high, and drove them deep into his eyeballs” (33). The reason he

did that was not to see the shameful things he’s done which is very ironic, as when he had

his sight, he was blind and ignorant to the truth and the knowledge he had. But now without

his sight he understood how blind he was to the truth. This built empathy and surprise in the

audience as Oedipus’s act was noble and it was the only correct thing he did throughout the

play.

In conclusion blindness and sight correlate to the ideas of knowledge and ignorance which

was proved by the actions of Oedipus and Jocasta. First Oedipus and Jocasta’s denial to

the truth laid in the plain sight but their hubris made them ignorant to the truth and

knowledge of the case. Then Jocasta’s death explained how ignorant she was that she just

hung herself. Finally, Oedipus got rid his sight, and lost the ignorance he had and

understood his mistakes. Sophocles used flashbacks in the play which helped the audience

in understanding the full story which helped him make the readers feel the importance of

opening their eyes to the truth and not ignoring the knowledge presented to them or they

will end up in a situation similar to Oedipus’, ashamed and scared by their ignorance and

hubris.

Word count: 1384

5|Page
 Work Cited

Sophocles. “Oedipus the King”. Trans. Ian Johnston. Malaspina University-College: British

Columbia.2004.Print

6|Page