On the question of knowledge and blindness in Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus.

Abstract

The article presents comments on the question of knowledge and blindness in Sophocles’ Oedypus Tyrannus. The author suggests that part of the lexical data may support the hypothesis of Parmenidean inspiration of the tragedy. He claims that it is reasonable when Oedipus charges Teiresias and Creon of conspiracy. He also suggests that Oedipus’ loss of eyes on one hand and the king’s other experiences on the other move him away from the category of human beings to the borderland between the worlds of the mortals, the dead and the world of divinity. The author of the article also claims that among various interpretations of the tragedy, the knowledgeoriented one seems to find the most support in lexical data.