Darkness

As we venture through Oedipus, I can't help but wonder about the concept of darkness or blindness. The key question in this blog post that I want to raise and hopefully have some discussion is "what does darkness symbolize?" throughout literature, darkness has come to symbollize a good deal of different things that transcend far pass just "the absence of light".

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth says, 

"Come, thick night,

And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,

That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,

Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark

To cry “Hold, hold!”

She calls for darkness as a source of camouflage to hide Macbeth's actions from God. As daylight shines light and allows one to see, darkness conceals. Darkness hides all ill deeds. Many people who have fear of darkness state that it isn't the actual state of being in darkness that frightens them, but the things that hide in the dark. In biblical terms, light often portrays righteousness. Jesus calls Christians the "light of the world". However, darkness represents sin. One of the Devil's many nicknames is "The Prince of Darkness."

In Plato's The Allegory of the Cave, darkness symbolizes ignorance. The shadows of the fire burning behind the prisoners symbolizes a false sense of truth. It's an illusion of the truth brought about by the shadows of the darkness. Meanwhile, the sun and the light it's bring is the reality of the truth. the process of being brought out of the darkness into the light is a literal enlightenment where one goes from the lies of darkness and is brought into the truth.

Oedipus brings a different meaning to darkness however. Though it was brought about in the harshest of circumstances, Oedipus' blindness is brought about by his own willingness. In the other two situations discussed, darkness is used with a negative connotation. However, Oedipus has a positive use for it. He would rather live in darkness than live in a world where he has to stare his sin in the face. Darkness in Oedipus manner is a good thing because it keeps him away from his sin. It creates a barrier between him and what he has done. 

p.s. commented on Gary's "What's the Point."