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Blindness in "Oedipus the King" In Sophocles' play, "Oedipus the King", one of the main themes is blindness. The author uses physical blindness, as well as intellectual blindness to illustrate Oedipus' status as a tragic hero. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has perfect physical vision. However, he is "blind" and ignorant to the truth about himself and his past. He desperately wants to "see", but he cannot. This is exemplified in the play …

…reality. From the play, one may discover that one of Oedipus' tragic flaws is his "blindness" or unwillingness to see the truth. Sophocles uses ironic examples of this blindness throughout the play to clue the audience in to the main cause of the tragedy in Oedipus' life. By using these examples, the writer provides a more subtle insight into the "blindness" of Oedipus, rather than being blunt about it in the beginning of the play.