The Function of Teiresias in Oedipus the king

“To go to far is as bad as to fall short”. - Confucius. Everything should be done in moderation and there should be a healthy equilibrium in all situations and aspects of life (Dawe, R.D. ed., 1). Something taken too far is the equal to something not taken far enough; both concepts are flawed and cause confliction (Foster, C. Thomas, 15). These are the beliefs that the Greek gods held and also imposed on their people. “Know thy self; nothing in excess” was inscribed at Temple Apollo at Delphi in Ancient Greek. Temple Apollo is known to be the most sacred place in the Greek world. Oedipus the king of Thebes went against the word of the gods by doing many things in excess. He did this by having excessive pride and anger. Not only that he also he also held excessive power and control over the people and happenings surrounding him which led to his hubris. All of this overindulgence led to Oedipus's downfall as a leader, a son, a husband and a father. Had he displayed all of these qualities in moderation he might have been spared some of consequences that he sorrowfully faced in the end despite his best attempts to avoid living out the horrible prophecies that were chosen for him.

Some one once appropriately said “Temper get you in trouble but pride keeps you there”. What does this have to do with Oedipus? Well Pride is an attribute which Oedipus has in surplus (Brunner, M., 12). Another word for excessive pride is Hubris. It is well known and established that hubris is Oedipus's tragic flaw. Oedipus shows that he has a great sense pride and confidence concerning his abilities as a leader but when Theriases attempts to indicated to Oedipus that he is the one who murdered Lauis his real father, instead of seeing the honesty in Teiresias's words or considering both sides of the spectrum. Oedipus thinks that Teiresias is his enemy and is making this accusations in an act of jealousy. He says “Ah, riches and royalty, and wit matched against wit In the race of life, must they always be mated with envy” (Sophocles, 36). According to Greek Law Any person or thing that goes against the word of the gods or any sacred sayings would eventually face the wrath of the gods inevitably; doing this would restore the natural balance of things. In Oedipus's case the hubris is replaced by shame or remorse. Despite all of this even towards the end of the play Oedipus is full of pride he displays this when he chooses his own punishment he decides that he must be banished. Furthermore, He decides he should no longer see; he blinds himself by stabbing his eyes. No matter whether he chose this or not its was the punishment that the gods and already chosen for him and maybe in the act of doing this he showed that he knew he had to ...