Why did oedipus blind himself

Meaning, she felt extreme guilt and disgust because she slept with Laius, had a child, and then later slept with this child. Being angered, Laius either rolled a chariot wheel over his foot or hit him with his whip, and Oedipus killed Laius and all but one of his attendants, who claims it was a gang of men.

Laius was buried where he died by Damasistratus, the king of Plataea. Polyneices is the brother of Antigone, Ismene and Eteocles. Creon learns from a sentry that someone has buried Polyneices. Creon demands that the sentry discover who did it.

The sentry brings Antigone in and reports that she was the one who buried Polyneices. Antigone rejects her, but she does not deserve to die with her. Ismene swears she will bury Polynices herself then.

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Blog Why does Oedipus blind himself rather than kill himself? Ben Davis June 9, Why does Oedipus blind himself rather than kill himself? Upon birth, a prophecy surrounding him foresaw that he would murder his own father and marry his own mother.

Expert Answers In this play, Oedipus discovers that he is guilty of some of the most horrific actions imaginable to the Greek mind or to any mind : he has killed his father and married his mother. Regarding his punishments, one of them is self-inflicted: he blinds himself. The simple answer is that Oedipus is guilty of two crimes: killing the king and incest. The man who committed incest with his mother deserved to be castrated.

The blinding is a symbolic form of castration. Various Factors in the Act of Self-blinding In Oedipus at Colonus, Oedipus tells his son that he blinded himself in a moment of frenzy and not from a sense of guilt. Perhaps no one reason for the self-blinding suffices, nor all of them put together.

The action seems compounded of opposite elements: egotism and altruism, self-loathing and self-glorification. As an act of destruction, it shows man at his worst. To the extent that it was predetermined, it shows the gods at their worst. For instance, when the Chorus scolds him for having made a bad decision in blinding himself, he replies with the old impatience and a touch of the old anger.

He tells them not to preach a lesson to him or to give him any suggestion to the effect that he has not done the best thing. And he goes on to describe in detail the reasoning by which he arrived at the decision. He tells Creon that his own curse calls for his banishment or death and he sees no point in prolonging the matter. Creon finally does what Oedipus wanted to be done sooner: he exiles Oedipus from Thebes.

Oedipus analyses in painful detail his own situation and that of his children. The old confidence in his own intelligence is very much there, although the extravagant hopefulness is gone. After his initial wish for death, he becomes sure that he is destined to live. He feels that he is in some sense too strong to be destroyed. His devotion to the interests of the city is still very keen. He is anxious that the terms of his own curse and the demand of the oracle be immediately and exactly fulfilled.

The release can come only through the punishment of the murderer of Laius. It is in terms of the interest of the city that he states his desire for banishment.

Oedipus shows also a great capacity to adapt himself to the change in his circumstances, and the process of his rapid adjustment to his blindness is well depicted. The adjustment is so successful that we find him arguing stubbornly with Creon.

So, you mock my blindness? Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark. Better to live at random, best we can. Oh blind, blind, poor man. Previous section Destiny Next section Section 1: Antigone, lines