Oedipus the King Themes

Sophocles, in Oedipus the King, develops the themes of light and dark, and sight and blindness, in terms of clarifying the tragic fate of the protagonist. There is, however, great irony in these themes, for Oedipus cannot see what he is supposed to see until it is too late. Yet his first words in the play refer to a sight he could not have at that point, with respect to the murder of his father and marriage to his mother: "I would be blind to misery not to pity my people. . . . I see---how could I fail to see what longings bring you here" (159; 162). Of course, he does not know, and cannot know, at this point, that his actions in the past have brought the gods' curse upon his city and his people. However, he certainly had allowed himself to be compared to the gods, so that he is primed for the hubris which will bring him down as he seeks out the answers to the mystery of the curse.

Oedipus is spiritually and morally blind, in the dark, and the gods' every move is designed to open his eyes and move him into the light. The ultimate self-blinding of Oedipus is, in effect, the mark of his enlightenment. He has come to "see" morally and spiritually, and to accept that blindness is proof that he has seen what he has done.

Early on Oedipus asks "Whose fate does Apollo bring to light?" (164), not seeing that it will be his own fate. In fact, not knowing what he is saying, he declares "I'll bring it all to light myself" (167). The Chorus calls for the sending of the accursed one

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The gods know all, while Oedipus knows nothing until it is too late: "Oh no no, I think I've just called down a dreadful curse upon myself---I simply didn't know!" (203). Whether Oedipus should have known or not, whether he was justified in killing the old man on the road, his rage in part spells his doom, for when that rage is turned inward, as the gods must have known it would be, he blinds himself in horror at what he has seen. Bibliography Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays. New York: Penguin, 1984. In Books I-XII in The Odyssey, Homer develops the theme of memory to recognition in a moral context. To Homer, memory certainly serves the purpose of allowing the storyteller to tell the story, but the poet is after far more than mere entertainment. His epic work is designed to show the individual's movement from memory of events and experiences to the recognition of the moral and spiritual message behind those events and experiences. As laid out in this epic poem, the story of Odysseus is one in which memory serves as a tool working the protagonist and his fellows toward the recognition of their rightful place in relationship to other human beings in society and to the gods. The first section of the work lets us know th

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