As blame is placed upon Oedipus for the murder of Laius, he blinds himself from the possible reality that he may be the killer. The people of Thebes are informed that there is an impending curse upon them as a result of the murder mystery of their previous king, Laius. In order to quicken the cure, Oedipus calls on Teiresias, the blind prophet to aide them. Excessive pride fuels his inability to believe the prophecy of Teiresias stating Oedipus is the killer, and that he has married his mother. “Until I came - I, ignorant Oedipus, came - and stopped the riddler’s mouth, guessing the truth by mother-wit, not bird-love.” Because he continually boasts about how he has saved Thebes from the Sphinx, he believes that no one could know m

Prior to the birth of Oedipus, a prophecy was spoken over Laius and his wife Jocasta. They were told that their son would one day be his father’s killer and would then marry his mother. In fear, King Laius and Queen Jocasta sent the baby Oedipus off with a slave to be killed. He was never killed, but rather was given to a childless king and queen which lovingly raised him. Oedipus was never factually told about his lineage. Later in his life, Oedipus was confronted by several unknown men while traveling. Upon confrontation, Oedipus killed all but one of the men in self defense. Unknowingly, Oedipus had begun to fulfill the prophecy for one of the men had been his birth father, Laius.

Oedipus, ruler of Thebes, murdered his father and married his mother. Such acts are almost always deemed unnatural and criminal; they are not tolerated within traditional society. A person who has committed these illegal acts of murder and incest would be considered a criminal, yet Sophocles’s character, Oedipus, is not guilty of either crime.

ing of his biological father, Laius, he cries, “O Light! May I never look on you again, revealed as I am, sinful in my begetting, sinful in marriage, sinful in shedding of blood.” In this instance his call to “light” refers to truth. In this, he discovers that lies and sins are the basis lie at the core of his entire life. For this very reason Oedipus blinds himself. His experience with truth is too painful and he no longer wants to “see” it again. To him there is nothing left for him to see. He explains to his people, “What should I do with eyes where all is ugliness? … Where is there any beauty for me to see? Where loveliness of sight or sound? Away!” At one point he believes that he has seen everything, when actually has seen nothing for everything around him has been no more then just a lie.

As the tragedy comes to a close, the truth is revealed to Oedipus concerning his lineage and unnatural actions. Although the truth had been spoken to him about these matte

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