Historiae Romanorum

Tiresias

Tiresias (also spelled Teiresias) is the famous blind prophet of Thebes.  Early in his life, he had come upon two snakes mating.  He struck and killed the snakes, and was instantly changed into a woman.  Seven years later, he encountered a second pair of mating snakes, and killed them as well, changing Tiresias back into a woman.

It happened that one day that Zeus and Hera, while discussing the topic at leisure, fell into a quarrel over which of the two sexes received more pleasure from sex.  Zeus claimed that women do, while Hera believed the opposite.  Looking to resolve the issue, the two gods consulted Tiresias, the only one truly qualified to give an answer.  Tiresias answered that women experience the greater pleasure.  Outraged at losing the argument, Hera struck Tiresias blind.

A god is unable to undo what another god has done, and so Zeus could not restore the Tiresias' sight.  Instead, he gave to Tiresias the gift of prophecy, so in essence exchanging one form of sight for another.

Apparently, Tireisias lived for a very long time.  He was alive at the time when Dionysus was born.  He revealed to the puzzled Amphitryon the union between his wife Alcmene and Zeus, which led to the birth of the great hero Heracles.

In the time of Oedipus,  it was Tiresias who revealed to him that he had killed his father and married his mother.  Later, he warned Creon of the dangers of refusing the burial of Polyneices' corpse.

After his eventual death, Tiresias did not stop his prophesizing.  While in the underworld, he visited Odysseus and told him how to reach his home in Ithaca.

Source(s):

1. Apollodorus.  Bibliotece.

2. Ovid.  Metamorphoses.

3. Homer.  Odyssey.

This page was last updated on July 21, 2004.