Assignment:
I have chosen to discuss the importance of symbolism in the play Oedipus Rex. The symbol of sight or blindness in the play for me represents Oedipus's inability to see what is right in front of him and in the end to really be blind. Oedipus was the king of Thebes and had there not been a great plague devastating Thebes he would be none the wiser. Oedipus first hears from Tiresias that the plague devastating Thebes was brought on because the murderer of Laius has not been found. Oedipus vows to find the murderer himself, but what he isn't seeing is that finger points to him. Tiresias shared the symbol of eyes best when he said to Oedipus "But I say to you, who have taunted me in my blindness, that though you have sight, you cannot see your own evil nor the truth of where you live and whom you live with" (Sophocles 83). The answers are in front of you just open your eyes.
In the end he opened his eyes with the realization that he indeed killed his father and is married to his mother. Oedipus tortured himself by gouging out his eyes so that he couldn't see any longer. Embarrassed he is sent inside the palace with one last word from Tiresias "You go inside, but think on this. If I have seen wrong, then call me blind" (Sophocles 85).
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