In the play, Oedipus blinds himself as an act of penance for his sins. He believes that by blinding himself, he will be purified and able to see the truth. This is a very important moment in the play because it shows how much guilt Oedipus feels about what he has done. He wants to punish himself for what he has done and atone for his sins. He believes that by blinding himself, he will be purified and able to see the truth. Oedipus was famous for being able to see into the future and so when this happened, he believed that he had somehow been blinded by the gods who were punishing him for killing his father and marrying his mother (both of whom were actually not related). This is why he wants to punish himself further by blinding himself as an act of penance for these sins against nature (and against the gods). His punishment would also serve as a way of purifying himself and allowing him to regain some sense of clarity or perspective after all that has happened.
The most important point to note is that Oedipus’s act of blinding himself is an act of ultimate humility. Oedipus is a man who has reached the height of greatness, but this greatness has come at the expense of his own family. He has learned that he was responsible for the murder of his father and the abandonment of his mother, and this knowledge has been eating away at him ever since he found out about it. It’s not just that he killed his father; it’s that he also abandoned his mother and left her to suffer without any support or comfort from anyone.
Oedipus’s act of blinding himself is an act of ultimate humility because it shows how far he has fallen from grace in terms of his relationship with his family members. Once upon a time, Oedipus was a king who ruled over Thebes with justice and honor; now he’s a blind beggar living on the streets with no one to support him or take care of him except for Tiresias and Creon — both men who hate him because they believe that he murdered Laius.
