Does Oedipus’ stabbing of his eyes represent his blindness throughout the play?

Does Oedipus’ stabbing of his eyes represent his blindness throughout the play?


At the end of Oedipus Rex, we clearly see Oedipus cause harm to himself. Specifically, he stabbed himself in the eyes. Some may speculate that this was merely from the anger and pain generated from finding out that he married his mother and killed his father. I, on the other hand, believe that blinding himself at the end was symbolic in that he was blind throughout the whole play. Now, his blindness throughout the play came in different traits. For instance, his ignorance makes him blind.

I am by no way an advocate of self mutilation, but I do think that it was necessary for the stabbing to happen. After being blind for so long, Oedipus had to become permanently blind because he could no longer live with the pain and grief of his horrible actions. He, in theory, did what he had previously done throughout the entire play.