Sight is a very important sense for human beings. It is one of the things generally taken for granted, but without it many people would find themselves helpless and lost. The eyes are used to navigate, interact and learn. However, even with sight people can still get lost and often become unaware of the most obvious truths. This mental blindness can be more life-threatening than physical blindness. In the play Oedipus Rex, the title character Oedipus suffers from this type of blindness. He is blinded by the truth all his life, thus leading to his unfortunate fate. In the characters of Oedipus and Teiresias, Sophocles uses sight and sight as a motif to effectively show how one's uncontrolled emotions are blinding and why physical sight is not necessary to see the truth. Oedipus is very arrogant and allows his emotions to blind him. and prevent yourself from making good decisions. At the beginning of the play, Oedipus is revered by his people. They worship him for solving the riddle of the Sphinx and see him as the "wisest in the ways of God (38)". As a result, Oedipus welcomes all the praise, becomes proud, and believes himself invincible. After learning that the plague was caused by the murder of Laios, Oedipus takes it upon himself to find the murderer, saying, "Then once again I must bring to light what is dark (135)." Self-confidence pushes Oedipus to declare in front of all his people that he will find the murderer and save Thebes. He doesn't say that he will try, nor that he will do his best, but that he will undoubtedly solve the case. Oedipus sets his situation up for failure. Consequently, if he fails, the inhabitants of Thebes will lose faith in him and will consider him an incompetent... middle of paper... guilt, how could I look men frankly in the eye? (1350-1351)” He is filled with pain and guilt, knowing the shame he has brought on his family and exiles himself. He is now able to look back and recognize the consequences of his arrogance. Oedipus blinding himself symbolizes his newfound knowledge and his ability to finally see. Oedipus Rex is a tragedy in which Sophocles effectively shows that physical sight is not necessary to see the truth. Oedipus was completely unaware of his reality despite his vision. Tiresias, however, always managed to see the truth. His mental blindness leaves Oedipus defeated and destroyed by fate. This blindness is worse than physical blindness, as those who cannot use their eyes are aware of their situation, while those who are mentally blind may not realize they are going down the wrong path until it is too late..