The Imagery of Light and Darkness in Oedipus the King

The Imagery of Light and Darkness in Oedipus the King By Umer Mumtaz Oedipus the King is a play originally written by Sophocles. It opens with an account of a plague that had befallen the kingdom of Thebes. Oedipus starts looking for ways to end the epidemic and sends his brother-in-law to the oracle to seek consultation on how to stop it. His brother-in-law tells him that he must find the killer of the previous king to end the plague. Oedipus sets up a mission to try to look for the murderer and ends up offending and threatening many people in his attempts. He issues an edict that he would banish whoever is responsible for the plague from his kingdom. In the end, it turns out to be King Oedipus himself. While Sophocles develops the mental images along quite specific lines, the imagery of light and darkness used literally of sight and blindness and metaphorically of knowledge, ignorance, and the darkness of Oedipus’s acts. In the play, the characterization of Teiresias has shown the vivid imagery of light and darkness, and the moment Oedipus lost his vision, Teiresias was famous throughout the kingdom as a prophet who always prophesied the truth. It is evident that Teiresias is still honest, and he does not hide anything despite not having any authority. When Oedipus summoned him, he is not afraid of telling him that he is the killer despite Oedipus being the king. Teiresias also prophesied that Oedipus would lose his vision, which also came true. The chorus leader described Teiresias as: “…our god-like prophet, in whom the truth resides more so than in all men” (Sophocles 186). The sentiments show that even other people in the kingdom believed in Teiresias, they saw him as a beacon of hope and the light that outshines the darkness in the country. Oedipus' character has also showed the imagery of darkness because of his immoral actions, which led to his downfall. Oedipus is an evil man because he killed his father, Laius. When Oedipus murdered him, he did not know that he was his father, let alone the king. In his own words, he said that he had killed a stranger who had insulted him. Oedipus also marries Jocasta, who was his mother. All these actions are immoral and unacceptable in society. It is not morally right to kill someone over a small issue like insults. Oedipus did not have any authority or power to murder the stranger. Oedipus marrying his mother is also against the typical norms of society. There is a close link between darkness and evil, and Oedipus' actions are evil, which portrays the imagery of darkness. It is dreadful that Oedipus does not take Teiresias' sentiments serious even after he tries to enlighten him. Oedipus also goes ahead to accuse Teiresias of colluding with Creon. The play also relates imagery to Oedipus' blindness because he did not see his fate coming even after the prophet warned him. When Teiresias tried to explain to Oedipus about his vision, he sent him away and accused him of ganging up with his brother-in-law. He did not want to accept the truth even though it was right in front of his eyes. The imagery of light has been brought out from Teiresias' character. The "light" is the truth that Teiresias prophesied about Oedipus being the killer and his tragic end once he learned that he was the one who had killed the king. The imagery of darkness is evident when Oedipus did not want to recognize Teiresias' prophecy. He becomes angry and accuses Teiresias of insulting him. Oedipus' denial is also the imagery of darkness because the prophet warned him. Oedipus becomes sightless because he does not want to accept the truth (the light) and blinds himself (the darkness) so that he can live in obscurity. The sole reason why Oedipus chooses to blind himself is that he is shocked that the prophecy came true, and all along, the prophet had warned him about it. In the end, Oedipus was banished from the kingdom, which ironically was the rule he set when he was the king. Imagery is thus an essential feature because it gives the audience a chance to picture what is happening in the story while they are reading it. Such mental images are of particular importance because they act as a guide to understanding the meaning of the complex Oedipus the King. In the play, the use of imagery is vivid, especially the way the description of darkness and light used to magnify the actions of the characters in an attempt to make the story interesting. While Sophocles develops the representation of the latter literally to describe the prophet who prophesied Oedipus' fate and revealed that he was the killer, the use of the former is metaphorical to describe the ignorance of Oedipus, his evil deeds, and his denial to accept the truth. Imagery is critical in any story, and it is a stylistic way of describing a play.  Work Cited Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays. Translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Books. yale.imodules.com/s/1667/images/gid6/editor_documents/malafronte/sophocles_oedipus_the_king_trans_fagles.pdf?sessionid=3cc21107-5910-40ad-95c8-f9cda168053a&cc=1.