It is said that the truth will set you free. However, in the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, knowledge of the truth drives Oedipus into a world of darkness. Oedipus is unable to discover who he truly is in the beginning of the play although he is able to physically see; however, Oedipus’ self-discovery results in the loss of his physical sight.
To begin with, Oedipus’ pursuit of the truth ultimately leads him to roam the world in eternal darkness. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus states that “Whoever killed the king may decide to kill me too, with the same violent hand – by avenging Laius I defend myself” (Sophocles 158-160). This is ironic because we realize later on that it was Oedipus himself who killed King Laius and it was with this…show more content… Socrates states, “But unknown to you, your life in the cave is not a full picture of the truth. If we look behind you and your fellow prisoners, we can see that a walled roadway passes through the cave.” Prisoners who are bound and can only face the wall of a cave have no choice but to believe that the shadows cast onto the walls of the cave is their true reality. The prisoners have not experienced a life other than the one in the cave and without extensive knowledge, they can only be led to believe one thing. Socrates goes on to say, “Now, imagine you are suddenly freed from your chains. You stand up and turn around for the first time... You cannot understand what you are seeing!” Upon being released from the cave that the prisoner believe to be “reality”, he is shown that there is a world outside of his own understanding. However, upon telling the other prisoners in the cave of the false world that they have been living in, they do not wish to believe what the enlightened prisoner has to say. They have only experienced one reality and that is the only reality comprehendible to them. To see is to believe, but not all that is seen is able to be
