Certainly blindness and sight" illuminate metaphors throughout Sophocles' masterpiece work Oedipus Rex. Ironically, the blind prophet Teiresias becomes such an exasperation to Oedipus, "I did not know you were about to speak folly; else it would have been long before I sent for you to my house. (1st encounter). The idea of a King needing advice from anyone spoils the King's own identity and 'royalty'. Oedipus, like most people in charge, doesn't need anyone telling him about things he doesn't understand; the King relies only upon himself. Soon after Oedipus' "greeting of Teiresias with such gallant frivolity, a reader of the work questions Oedipus' true motives concerning Teiresias. Oedipus, in very quick fashion, turns on Teiresias revealing a deep animosity for Teiresias' talents "I did not know you were about to speak folly; else it would have been long before I sent for you to my house. Effectively, Oedipus' "house " is the Kingdom in which he reigns. Oedipus, in his arrogance, has distanced himself and his entire Kingdom entirely from the wisdom and sage advice of "the gods". Oedipus' arrogance challenges the authority of "things hidden and has no use of the ˜truth' from any source other than his own; Oedipus believes he can summon 'truth' because he is the king. Teiresias, on the other hand, understands Oedipus' arrogance and potential for being a tyrant "Rage if you will, with the fiercest wrath your heart knows " and "Would you have me say more, to make you angrier still? The "truth " of things is found in the direct words of Teiresias' first encounter with Oedipus. Oedipus long before has cloaked "truth " under the veil of obstinacy for the gods and for anything that attempts to usurp Oedipus' own authority. Teiresias illustrates Oedipus' dire straits because of self-reliance perfectly but still delivers the "truth " of Oedipus' blindness perfectly "No, your doom is not to fall by me.
