Seeing All and Seeing None - an essay on the use of sight and blindness in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex

Seeing All and Seeing None In Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, sight and blindness are used as an underlying theme throughout the play. Sophocles makes the point that those with sight are not all seeing, and often those without sight see what others don't. Our first encounter with blindness in the play comes when we are introduced to Tiresias, the blind prophet. Although Tiresias does not have the traditional use of sight, he is able to see …

…figurative blindness was to blind himself literally. Sophocles uses sight and blindness consistently throughout his play, Oedipus Rex. He uses it to show us that things aren't always as they seem. And also that seeing things with our eyes, doesn't mean that we necessarily see them as they are. Oedipus alone proves this statement to be true. In a twist of fate, Tiresias' blindness lead to the truth, and the truth lead to Oedipus' blindness.