why does Oedipus blind himself?

Answer 1

He discovered that he married his own mother (with whom he has had four children). When Jocasta (his mother) learns the horrible truth, she hangs herself in the very chamber where she and her son have unknowingly committed incest. Seizing the brooches from her dress, Oedipus blinds himself.

Answer 2

A plague falls on the people of Thebes. Upon discovery of the truth, Oedipus blinds himself and Jocasta hangs herself.[15] After Oedipus is no longer king, Oedipus' sons kill each other.


Take not that Homer is blind also.

Answer 3

It has been said that people can be blinded to the truth. The answer to their question or solution to their problem may have been sitting right in front of them all along. Yet, they could not see the answer. They were blinded to the truth. Associations have been made between being blind and enlightened. A blind person is said to have powers to see invisible things. They "see" into the future. The blind may not have physical sight, but they have another kind of vision. In Sophocles' King Oedipus, Teiresias, the blind prophet, presents the truth to King Oedipus and Jocasta. Oedipus has been blinded to the truth his whole life. When he does find the truth, he loses his physical vision. Because of the truth, Oedipus blinds himself.
Oedipus was blind in more then one way. He was blind to the truth about his own life.
Oedipus was also physically blind. Oedipus' physical blindness played into the whole role of the Greek tragedy. The blindness completed the tragedy for Oedipus.For Oedipus, this tragedy was discovering the truth and becoming blind. It completed the prophecies that Oedipus received from the blind prophet, Teiresias. Teiresias told Oedipus that he had come into Thebes with his sight, but he would leave Thebes without it. Oedipus' physical blindness also left Oedipus to the wrongs of his life. With nothing to look at, Oedipus was forced to think about his life and what had happened. He was forced to deal with it. He had the blackness and the physical pain he had inflicted on himself as reminders and as punishment. Oedipus' physical blindness was just as painful as his blindness to the truth. Both were intertwined in each other.

Answer 4

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why does Oedipus blind himself?

Answer 5

So are you arguing for cowardice or bravery? Because your three points seem to be supporting the idea that he did it out of cowardice, so if that's the case, then I think that you've got a good start. I don't think that 1 and 2 are too similar; in fact, they're completely different. On the one hand, you're saying that Oedipus was ashamed of his physical appearance, while on the other, you're claiming that he felt some kind of shame/remorse for his actions. Now you just need to come up with some textual evidence to support your claims!

Answer 6

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I think it's more bravery than cowardice. It's also, to him, simply the appropriate thing to do at that moment. To the ancient Greeks, the connection between sight and knowledge was more explicit than it is to most-- the past tense of their verb for "see" meant "knew" as well as "saw." So, whereas Jocasta couldn't bear to live with the knowledge that she had married her son, who had killed her first husband, and therefore committed suicide, Oedipus was strong enough to live with those facts if somehow he didn't have to face them directly. By putting out his eyes, he was also figuratively putting the dreadful realization at a distance. In addition, he clearly considered blinding himself an appropriate punishment, since he had not used his eyes, literally or figuratively, while he had them. Teiresias had even said to him, "You taunt me with my blindness, but you have two good eyes yet can't see the situation you're living in." So I definitely think you're tight, and I don't think your first and second reasons overlap. (But don't you mean "bear" instead of "care"?) However, the last reason doesn't really support the idea of bravery, does it? How about the idea that he needed to live on to atone for what he had unintentionally done?

Answer 7

When he was a boy, other boys teased Oedipus about not resembling King Polybus of Corinth, his alleged father. They said his mother had a secret lover. He consulted the Delphic Oracle who screamed, "Begone, accused youth, for your presence pollutes this holy temple! It is your fate to kill your father and to marry your mother." To prevent this, he never returned to Corinth but arrived at Thebes that was terrorized by the Sphinx. Oedipus answered the monster's riddle, and it killed itself. He was rewarded by marrying Queen Jocasta. They had 4 children. When these kids were nearly grown, a plague struck Thebes. The Delphic Orcle said a dragon-born man must die to stop the plague. Jocasta's old father jumped off the wall, and the plague stopped. Blind Tereisias was even wiser than the oracles. He came to Jocasta and said, "The gods respect your father's noble sacrifice, but he is not the man they wanted killed. This man killed his father and married his mother." Jocasta said, "My father and my two sons are the last dragon-born men, and none of them did such vile things." Tereisias said, "There is another! You have a son by Laius, and he is the one who committted these hideous crimes." Jocasta said, "Lauis knew his son was destined to kill him, so he had the baby killed as soon as he was born." The prophet said, "You are wrong. The child survived. He is Oedipus." Jocasta ordered the old man to never return and not to repeat his tale to anyone on pain of death. Tereisias said, "Zeus swore I shall live until Thebes falls, and that will be long after you are dead." When Oedipus returned, he heard rumors of Teriesias' words and began investigating. Soon, he knew he was really the son of Lauis, whom he killed on the road, and Jocasta, whom he had wed. He went to talk to his mother and found her hanging by her neck from a rafter in their bedroom. He was so upset that he grabbed a pin from her robe and drove it into both of his eyes. That could not blind him from seeing the painful truth.

Answer 8

Because he could not see himself.

Answer 9

He was banging his mom and couldn't bare the shame of looking upon his image

Answer 10

cuz *****