Why does Oedipus blind himself in Oedipus Rex and what is the significance of his choice of instrument?

Towards the end of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex, a messenger from Corinth arrives at Oedipus's palace to give Oedipus news that King Polybus of Corinth, whom Oedipus believes is his real father, has died.

The messenger also reveals that King Polybus and his queen, Merope, are Oedipus's adoptive parents, not his real parents, and Oedipus orders that a shepherd who has knowledge of this be brought before him.

Oedipus's queen, Jocasta, tries to dissuade Oedipus from talking with the shepherd. When Oedipus insists on seeing the shepherd, Jocasta goes into the palace, with an ominous remark to Oedipus that foreshadows events that will play out very soon.

JOCASTA. [to Oedipus] O woe is thee, poor wretch! With that last word
I leave thee, henceforth silent evermore.

Oedipus learns from the shepherd that Polybus and Merope were, indeed, his adoptive parents. He also learns that his real parents are Laius, the former king of Thebes whom Oedipus killed on the road to Thebes, and Laius's queen, Jocasta, his own queen, and, as he's discovered, also his own mother.

Oedipus rushes away into the palace.

After a short choral interlude, a messenger comes from the palace to say that Jocasta has hanged herself. The messenger also tells how Oedipus forced his way into the room where Jocasta died.

MESSENGER. He crashed against
The folding doors, and from their staples forced
The wrenched bolts and hurled himself within.
...But when he saw her, with a maddened roar
He loosed the cord; and when her wretched corpse
Lay stretched on earth, what followed—O 'twas dread!
He tore the golden brooches that upheld
Her queenly robes, upraised them high and smote
Full on his eye-balls...

The brooches that fastened Jocasta's "queenly robes" can be said to symbolize her position as queen, both to her current husband, Oedipus, and to her former husband and Oedipus's father, Laius.

The messenger says that Oedipus cried out, "No more shall ye behold such sights of woe, / Deeds I have suffered and myself have wrought!" and that Oedipus continued to stab at his eyes with Jocasta's brooches.

MESSENGER. Not once but oft, he struck with his hand uplift
His eyes...

Oedipus comes from the palace, his eyes bleeding from the self-inflicted wounds. The leader of the chorus asks Oedipus why he did this, and Oedipus replies that Apollo—meaning fate and the will of the gods—is responsible for everything that has happened to him but that he is the instrument of his own tragic downfall.

LEADER. O doer of dread deeds, how couldst thou mar
Thy vision thus? What demon goaded thee?

OEDIPUS. Apollo, friend, Apollo, he it was
That brought these ills to pass;
But the right hand that dealt the blow
Was mine, none other.

For what reason does Oedipus blind himself? What meaning, if any, do you find in his choice of surgical instrument?

In this Athenian tragedy by Sophocles, Oedipus chooses to blind himself after it is revealed that he has, as foretold by a prophecy, killed his father and slept with his mother. Oedipus cannot bare the shame and horror of what he has done, and when he finds that his mother has killed herself from shame, he chooses to blind his eyes by piercing them with two of her brooches. Oedipus does not choose to fully relieve himself of his suffering by ending his life. Rather, he tortures himself by piercing his eyes and enduring the rest of his life in shame and blindness. Even with the knowledge of the prophecy, Oedipus is figuratively blinded by his actions, and so it is with deep irony that he then physically blinds himself when the prophecy is fulfilled. The use of the brooches to blind Oedipus are, of course, significant because they belonged to his mother and therefore are connected to the prophecy that ultimately led to his blinding.

For what reason does Oedipus blind himself? What meaning, if any, do you find in his choice of surgical instrument?

In Oedipus Rex, why does Oedipus blind himself?

Oedipus's act of blinding himself symbolically represents his ignorant decision to dismiss Teiresias's intimate knowledge of his past, by purposefully overlooking his message and the signs which reveal that he murdered his father and married his mother. When Oedipus is exposed to the truth, he is overcome with shame, grief, and remorse. Once Oedipus realizes that he was not able to avoid the prophecy and is responsible for the plague, he is disgusted with himself and stabs his own eyes using Jocasta's golden brooches.

Oedipus blinding himself reflects his emotional pain and reveals that he has taken responsibility for his actions. Oedipus acknowledges that his hubris has left him blind to the truth and is too ashamed of himself to witness the citizens' reactions. Overall, Oedipus chooses stab out his eyes as a way of punishing himself for his hubris and ignorance. His loss of eyesight also symbolically represents his previous decision to overlook Teiresias's message and ignore the truth. 

In Oedipus Rex, why does Oedipus blind himself?

Broadly speaking, there are two reasons behind Oedipus' actions. First of all, the literal act of blinding makes explicit the metaphorical blindness that Oedipus has displayed throughout the play, and indeed throughout his whole life. To see Oedipus in such an appalling state, blood pouring down his screaming, eyeless face, really brings home to us the terrible price that Oedipus has paid for his overweening pride.

The second reason is more practical. Oedipus doesn't want to see the looks of pity, loathing, or contempt etched on the faces of people who now know the terrible truth. It is a great source of shame for Oedipus that he killed his father and married his mother, albeit inadvertently. He literally cannot look other people in the eye now that the truth has finally been revealed.

In Oedipus Rex, why does Oedipus blind himself?

Oedipus' decision to blind himself is very symbolic.  Because of his hubris, he was blind to all of the warning signs about the path he was travelling.  He refused to see.  In the end, when all is brough to light, he blinds himself, so he finishes the play literally as blind as he figuratively was throughout.

He is unable to avoid the fate that had been foretold for him from his birth.  He also brings curses upon himself, by cursing the murderer of Laius.  His self-punishment reveals that he believes his suffering is deserved.  It is his attempt to bring justice to the situation.

In Oedipus Rex, why does Oedipus blind himself?

In the ancient Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles in about 440 BC, Oedipus's ignorance of the circumstances of his life don't lead directly to his blindness to the truth. His blindness to the truth is his purposeful refusal to believe the truth, even after it's been revealed to him.

In his Poetics, Aristotle wrote that the best Greek tragedies—of which he considered Oedipus Rex the best example—proceed in a logical cause-and-effect manner. In Oedipus Rex, the revelation of one truth leads to the revelation of another truth until all truths are revealed and the play comes to its logical and, for Oedipus, inevitably tragic end.

Oedipus Rex begins, as most classic Greek tragedies do, in the midst of a crisis. The people of Thebes are suffering from a drought and a plague, and they appeal to Oedipus, King of Thebes, to relieve them of their suffering.

The Oracle at Delphi reveals that in order for the famine and pestilence to end, Thebans must find and banish the person who murdered their former king, Laius.

Oedipus, unmindful of his role in the death of Laius, vows to find the murderer and banish him from Thebes.

Thus far, Oedipus's ignorance of the facts of Laius's death is of little consequence, and doesn't negatively impact his life. His vow to the people of Thebes is honest, straightforward, and heartfelt, and he intends to fulfill it.

As the plot unfolds, however, it becomes increasingly clear that Oedipus himself is the murderer, and how he reacts to that information will result in his tragic fall.

Oedipus sends for the blind seer-prophet Teiresias, who is at first reluctant to tell Oedipus what he knows about the murder. Oedipus insults Teiresias for his refusal to speak to the matter and accuses Teiresias of the murder. Teiresias angrily responds that Oedipus is the murderer.

Oedipus refuses to believe Teiresias and accuses him of conspiring with Creon, Oedipus's brother-in-law, to usurp his throne. As Teiresias leaves the palace, he reveals an old prophecy that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother.

Oedipus has now heard two truths, both of which he refuses to believe, but, as yet, these truth have no real consequence on his life.

Oedipus confronts Creon, accusing Creon of telling Teiresias what to say so Creon can usurp his throne. As Oedipus and Creon argue, Jocasta, Oedipus's wife and Queen, emerges from the palace. She recounts the circumstances of Laius's murder, which are remarkably similar to Oedipus's own recollection of killing a man on the road to Thebes.

Even as circumstantial evidence mounts against him, Oedipus refuses to believe that he's the murderer, and he continues his investigation, still ignorant of the truth and convinced that he will be vindicated.

This is when Oedipus's tragic flaw, his hubris, comes into play. His pride affects two different but inextricably interrelated circumstances.

The first circumstance is that Oedipus must prove that he has fulfilled his vow to the Theban people and discovered the murderer.

The second circumstance, which is a matter of maintaining his power and authority in Thebes and which is tragically in conflict with the first circumstance, is to prove that he's not the murderer.

Out of selfish pride, Oedipus chooses self-preservation rather than the good of the people. Under the guise of fulfilling his vow to find the murderer, he chooses instead to focus his efforts on proving that he's not the murderer.

Oedipus is no longer ignorant of the facts, but to accomplish his goal of proving himself innocent of the murder, he blinds himself to the truth of Laius's murder, hoping that the Theban people will also be blinded to the facts.

Ultimately, despite Oedipus's efforts, all of the facts become known, and Oedipus fails in his efforts to prove himself innocent of the murder.

The irony is that by choosing to focus his efforts on proving that he's not the murderer, Oedipus fulfills his vow. He finds, and banishes, Laius's murderer. Through his pride, which led to his tragic fall, Oedipus relieves the suffering of the Theban people.

In Oedipus Rex, why does Oedipus blind himself?

Oedipus's ignorance, or lack of knowledge, leads to his blindness to the truth in Thebes because of the irony of his having solved the riddle of the Sphinx.  For, since he has been clever enough to effect the destruction of the Sphinx, in his pride, or hubris, Oedipus believes that he is superior in intellect to others and he has been made king of Thebes where he marries Jocasta.

In his pride and self-assuredness, Oedipus places a curse upon the man responsible for the plague:

I pray that that man's life be consumed in evil and wretchedness

And as for me, this curse applies no less.

And, when Teiresias tries to be discreet about informing Oedipus that he is the perpetrator of the crime, the king becomes angry, charging the priest that if he had eyes, he would be the one who has committed the act. Teiresias responds,

I say that you are the murderer whom you seek...

I say you live in hideous shame with those

Most dear to you. You can not see the evil.

In his pride, too, Oedipus thinks that Kreon is envious of his position as king and calls for his death; nevertheless, he is not completely responsible for his ignorance of the truth. For, Teiresias speaks in what Oedipus calls "infantile riddles"; the shepherd cannot be forced to speak until his life is at stake, and Jocasta certainly seeks to shelter her husband/son from the truth. Finally, Oedipus believes that he is control of his life, but fate has intervened with his ignorance of Jocasta as his mother and the man whom he murdered as his father.  His arrogance and pride have, as the Chorus declares in Ode 2

Tempt[ed] and outrage[d] God's holy law;

And any mortal who dares hold

No immortal Power in awe

Will be caught up in a net of pain;

The price for which his levity is sold.

Pride, confidence that he is superior in intellect and can defeat fate, knowledge withheld by the shepherd and Jocasta--all of these contribute to Oedipus's ignorance and blindness to the truth. 

In Oedipus Rex, why does Oedipus blind himself?

After he accuses Creon of trying to take his throne, and the seer Teiresias of being blind to the truth in Scene I--"Why, he is no more clairvoyant than I am!"--Oedipus comes to realize that in his hubris, he has ironically placed his maledictions upon himself rather than on the seer or Creon. Before he learns the truth, Oedipus articulates this curse: 

May I never see the day! Never!

Rather let me vanish from the race of men'

Than know the abomination destined me!

Then, in Scene 3, Oedipus learns the terrible truth and exclaims,

O Light, may I look on you for the last time!

I, Oedipus,

Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage damned,

Damned in his blood he shed with his own hand!

Truly, in this drama the words of a messenger--"The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves"--explains the absolute despair of Oedipus and his "madness" that "[L]eaped on" him and made him punish himself.  In Stophe 2, he explains why he blinds himself,

How could I bear to see

When all my sight was horror everywhere? 

Thus, Oedipus blinds himself in order to punish himself, and to prevent himself from ever seeing Jocasta and his children against whom he has sinned.  That is, since he has been metaphorically blind for so long, he physically blinds himself in a gesture symbolic of his ruin. This self-punishment also demonstrates the act of justice that Oedipus places upon himself, for he believes his suffering is deserved since in his hubris he has been convinced that he could end the plague of Thebes.  

What is the symbolism and motivation behind Oedipus blinding himself?

Confronted with the horrific truth on many levels, Oedipus is placed in an impossible reality.  He acquires a sense of the pathetic because he is exposed to be a frail human being.  He understands that the truth and his role in it are both horrific.  He has married his mother and killed his father. Oedipus has also recognized that he has experienced a painful reversal.  From the king who swore to go to the ends of the earth to find the source responsible for the plague that has besieged his people, he has realized that he is the source of their pain.  Oedipus as both man and ruler has been exposed as a frail human on both professional and personal levels.  This instant, a threshold of painful revelation, is a reality from which he cannot escape:

For he removed from her garment the golden
brooches which she was wearing; he lifted them
and struck the sockets of his own eyes,
shouting that they would not see either the evils
he had suffered or the evils he had done,
now only in darkness could they see those whom
they must not see, in darkness could they mistake
those whom they wanted to recognize.

The act of Oedipus blinding himself is reflective of both the magnitude of his transgression as well as his acceptance of responsibility.  Oedipus is not able to live without taking some significant action.  Since "the evils he had done" were committed with full eyesight, it is symbolic that he blinds himself. Being devoid of physical sight, the implication is that Oedipus has gained a sense of internal sight that represents wisdom.  The myopia that he possessed when he had sight has now been replaced with a new type of sight that is not physical, but transcendent.  Oedipus' acknowledgement of his condition is evident in his addressing the Chorus as well as the audience:  "For why must I see, /I for whom no sight is sweet?"  Oedipus has the understanding that physicality and temporality is not as important as that which is transcendent and universal. The actions of the human being have to be seen in a larger context.  Reflective of Teiresias' words, in blinding himself Oedipus recognizes that wisdom must be worthwhile to the wise. This extends to the symbolic relevance of Oedipus blinding himself.  

Another reason why Oedipus' act of blinding himself is so symbolic is that it causes him to see that which is important.  After blinding himself, Oedipus is no longer interested in claims of power and discovering temporal notions of human truth.  Rather, he clearly sees that which is important in his devotion to his daughters.  He finally "sees" that which is meaningful:

My children, where are you? Come here, come
to these hands of mine that are siblings to yours,
hands that brought to this sad state the once
bright eyes of your begetting father,
who, children, neither seeing nor knowing was
proved your father from the same place he himself sprang.
And I weep for you, although I cannot see you;
contemplating the bitterness of your lives,
the sort of life men will force you to live.

While "the bright eyes" are gone, there is a new sight which has emerged.  This sight recognizes the universal elements that defines consciousness.  It took Oedipus losing his physical sight to gain this metaphysical one.  Due to this, Oedipus' actions are symbolic to understanding in human consciousness.  The suffering that comes as a result of knowledge enables a new, symbolic form of sight to emerge.  

Discuss the significance of Oedipus blinding himself at the end of Oedipus Rex.

The play is full of references to seeing and vision, and it is perhaps ironic that Oedipus is famed as a man who is perceptive and able to see things clearly. Eventually, he blinds himself after he faces the incontrovertible truth of who he is, who his wife is and who his children are. Sophocles seems to be suggesting that no matter how intelligent someone may feel that they are, all humans are prone to blindness or to errors that can have serious consequences without them being aware of them. By making himself blind, Oedipus is only making his blindness physical in addition to the psychological and mental blindness that he suffers from throughout the play. Note how Oedipus himself explains his blindness:

What I did was best--don't lecture me,

no more advice. I, with my eyes,

how could I look my father in the eyes

when I go down to death? Or mother, so abused...

Oedipus therefore says that he is not able to physically look at the people he has "so abused" through his ignorance. He blinds himself ironically after he is made to finally see, and through seeing he decides that it is better to be blind.