Blindness in Oedipus Rex People can be “blind” to the truth. The answer to their question or the solution to their problem may have been obvious. However, they could not “see” the answer. They were blind to the truth. Associations have been made between being blind and enlightened. A blind person is said to have the power to see invisible things. They "see" into the future. Blind people may not have physical sight, but they have another type of vision. In Sophocles' King Oedipus, Tiresias, the blind prophet, presents the truth to King Oedipus and Jocasta. Oedipus has been blind to the truth his entire life. When he finds the truth, he loses his physical sight. Because of the truth, Oedipus blinds himself. Jocasta was blind to Oedipus' true identity. Even when he discovered the truth, he refused to accept it. In this case, those who are blind ultimately have a higher vision: the truth. Gentle Oedipus began life with a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. In an attempt to avoid this fate, his parents, Laius and Jocasta, sent him to the mountains to die. However, a shepherd saved Oedipus. This shepherd gave Oedipus to Polybus and Merope. When Oedipus learned of his prophecy, he ran away from home, thinking that these people were his real parents. During the flight he met Laius. He finally killed Laius. He continued on, answered a riddle from the evil Sphinx, and ended up becoming king of Thebes. With this reign Oedipus married Jocasta. He had lived the prophecy without even knowing it. Thebes went through difficult times and a prophet blamed those who polluted the lands. Oedipus visited Tiresias, and Tiresias informed him that the polluter was the king. As Oedipus searched deeper and deeper, he discovered that he was the polluter and that the prophecy had come true. When Oedipus finally discovered the truth, he was so distressed that he stuck pins in his eyes, blinding himself. He had been blind to the truth for so long. Oedipus was blind in more ways than one. He was blind to the truth about his own life. Oedipus had no idea that his real parents were Laius and Jocasta. He was so blind that he would get angry at anyone foolish enough to suggest such an idea.