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   dymatsuoka

   The one character in the play who sees, right from the start, that the cause of the plague is Oedipus's transgression in killing his father and marrying his mother, is Teresias.  The irony of this is that Teresias is blind, yet he alone can see the truth.

   Teresias appears in the first act of the play, having been summoned by the King to tell what he knows about the calamities that have beset the land.  Creon had originally communicated the Oracles' proclamation that the plagues are a retribution for the murder of Laius, the previous King, and that the gods are demanding that the Thebans "drive out the pollution" that still infects the land.  Creon knows only part of the story, however.  It is only Teresias, the blind prophet, who knows the whole sordid truth about what is causing the gods' ire.

   Teresias is reluctant to reveal what he knows because he does not want to anger Oedipus.  When he does tell what he knows, that it is Oedipus himself who caused the death of Laius, the King does not believe him.  Ironically, Oedipus, in his anger, goads Teresias about his blindness, saying "you are blind in your ears and mind and eyes" (line 391), but it is really Oedipus himself who is blind, because he will not see the truth.

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/oedipus-rex-text/oedipus-rex?start=3

   http://www.enotes.com/oedipus-rex/act-summary

   http://www.enotes.com/oedipus-rex/teiresias

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   Posted by dymatsuoka on Monday February 23, 2009 at 9:25 AM