Dark, here, symbolizes the confusion that is placed upon the people of Thebes. They are in a chasm trying to decipher what is to be determined as true, the prophecy of Teiresias, or the good word of Oedipus.
After several testimonies, Oedipus opens his eyes and accepts the blame. In order to deliver justice for his wrongs in killing his father and marrying his mother, Oedipus chooses to blind himself physically. The Attendant explains the people regarding the Oedipus's self-inflicted injury. "And thrust, from full arm's length, into his eyes-- eyes that should see no longer his shame, his guilt, no longer see those they should have never seen, nor see, unseeing, those he had longed to see, henceforth seeing nothing but night."" The use of night is similar to that of the use of dark throughout the play. Night is in reference to lies. Everything that he, or his eye, has seen has all resulted in the discovery of a lie. From the parents he thinks he has, to the family that he has, the world he has created centers around a lie. Until the moment he discovers that he has really killed his father, ironically, Oedipus has never known truth. When he finally deduces that he is behind the kill!.
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.
