ends to see the prophet Teiresias, second only to Apollo. Teiresias is physically blind and Oedipus holds this against Teiresias. He goes so far as to state, "Your ears are deaf, your eyes are blind, your mindyour mind is crippled!" (p.10). This nonetheless is quite ironic for Oedipus is mentally blind. He is unaware of who he is. Oedipus is the murderer of his father, husband and lover to his mother, and brother to his children. Teiresias responds to Oedipus accusation. "I tell you this, since you mock my blindness. You have eyes, Oedipus, and do not see your own destruction. You have eyes and do not see what lives with you Then darkness will shroud those eyes that now can see the light," (p.11). Here Teiresias warns Oedipus of what his mental blindness has hidden from. He warns Oedipus of the doom and suffering in darkness that awaits him in the future. Finally, Teiresias ends the scene saying, "And if you find the words I speak are lies, then say that I am blind," (p.12). Teiresias knows that his prophet is infallible, and that Oedipus will soon realize who he is. Then, and only then, would Oedipus be aware of his mental blindness.Oedipus eventually puts the puzzle together and realizes that he truly was blind to the crimes that would ruin his life and the life of his family. "O God! O no! I see it now! All clear! O Light! I will never look on you again! Sin! Sin in my birth! Sin in my marriage! Sin in blood!" (p.28). Oedipus now realizes that he was blind and has accused both Creon and Teiresias wrongly. However, what is even worse is the effect that his sins have on his family. Shortly after his learning of his sins, Jocasta kills herself. This leaves Oedipus on a rampage. "Her gold brooches, her pinshe tore them from her gown and plunged them into his eyes again and again and again and screamed No longer shall you see the suffering you have known and caused! You saw what was forbidden to be seen, yet failed...
