Light and darkness are seen from the beginning of the play. Thebes is hit by a plague. The cause of this plague is that the murderer of King Laios hasn?t been punished yet and until he is found and punished Thebes will be hit with a plague. The image of darkness is represented by this plague. In line 143 of the play Oedipus says ?then once more must I bring what is light to dark?. He says ?once more? referring to the Sphinx. The Sphinx is also another representation of darkness. Oedipus brought Thebes back to light when he solved the Sphinx riddle. The image of light and darknes

All these images are important to the play. However the main underlying image is light and darkness. Sight and blindness can be classified with the image of light while blindness and ignorance can be classified with the image of darkness. At the end light overcomes darkness. The restoration of peace, order and well being is brought back to Thebes.

s can also be seen when Oedipus was born. The birth of a new life is an image of light. However Jocasta knew the prophecy of the oracle and decides that the newborn Oedipus should die. The death of a newborn is an image of darkness.

Another set of contrasting images that are found in the play are the images of sight and blindness. In the beginning Oedipus has perfect physical vision. On the other hand the prophet Teiresias is physically blind. After Oedip

Some topics in this essay:
Sphinx Sphinx, King Laios, Oedipus Jocasta, Sophocles Throughout, Oedipus Especially, , Jocasta Oedipuss, king laios, light darkness, Laios Oedipus, image light, sight blindness, image darkness, murderer king laios, thebes hit plague, contrasting images, classified image, darkness seen, darkness sight blindness, thebes hit, hit plague, image light darkness, light darkness seen,