Oedipus

Teiresias is blind but sees. Oedipus has eyes but is blind. (line 413) Why is Oedipus, the man who solved the riddle of the Sphinx, so slow to solve the riddle of his own identity 

There is a lot that can be said about Oedipus not recognizing or knowing what was really going on in his life. I believe that we have to take into effect that Oedipus was very self centered and egotistic. Because of this, he did not think about who he was killing at the time or did not look into who he was actually marrying.

If i was Oedipus, and i knew and believed what the oracle had said, I would avoid killing anyone at all cost and would highly investigate who the woman was i was marrying. Even though Oedipus thought that his adopted parents were his actual parents, i would have seriously taken in to consideration what the drunk man said about me being adopted.

Theiresias sees past all that is going on in Oedipus’s life and sees straight down to the core of his life. He can see past the ego and everything else that is blocking Oedipus from knowing the truth. Oedipus has every material possession that anyone could ever want. He solved the riddle of the town, he is the king of the kingdom, and a beautiful wife. I do not think he even wanted to cared who he was marrying.

At the end of the story, Oedipus finally figures out what is going on and so does his wife-mom. He then gauges out his own eyes. If someone gauges out there own eyes, that is a sign of shame and humility; a sign of hatred for oneself. In the case of Oedipus, it was especially a sign of regret and wishing you had never seen anything and never wanting to see anything again.

I believe that this story is a great example of what a big ego and self centeredness can do to someone. Its good while it last, but eventually its going to tear you down until you have nothing left. We as humans are suppose to be humble and respect others no matter if we dislike them or not.