Tiresias: The Ancient Greek Prophet Who Lived as a Man and as a Woman

Odysseus summons ancient Greek prophet Tiresias from the Underworld to consult him. Painting (crop) by Henry Fuceli (1841-1925) Public Domain

Tiresias, the Ancient Greek prophet of deity Apollo who could foresee the future, was transformed to a pistillate by goddess Hera and lived arsenic a pistillate for 7 years.

The mythical blind, bearded aged antheral from Thebes has go a timeless awesome of the prophet, embodying wisdom, spiritual insight, and a transportation to the divine. He was stern and ne'er hesitated to talk the truth. It is said that helium lived for 7 generations, which would beryllium astir 175 to 210 years.

He appears successful respective mythological works specified arsenic Homer’s Odyssey, wherever Odysseus consults him, and is mentioned by authors of antiquity Sophocles, Euripides, Pindar, Ovid and others.

Tiresias was the lad of a shepherd named Everes and a nymph named Chariclo. He lived successful Thebes and was the advisor to the laminitis of the city, Cadmus.

The Ancient Greek prophet had the quality to determination betwixt humans and gods, antheral and female, the contiguous and the future, and this satellite and the underworld. He could foretell the aboriginal and pass with the dead, balancing betwixt this satellite and theirs.

It is said that helium could foretell the aboriginal successful galore antithetic ways. He would person visions, perceive to and construe the songs of birds, oregon construe prophecies that appeared arsenic pictures successful the fume aft burning offerings oregon entrails.

Hera turns him into a woman

Legend has it that astatine immoderate constituent Tiresias was transformed into a pistillate by goddess Hera. When helium was a young man, the Ancient Greek prophet was walking connected Mount Cyllene erstwhile helium came upon 2 snakes that were mating. For immoderate reason, helium struck the snakes with his walking instrumentality and killed either some oregon 1 them, depending connected the mentation of the myth.

Hera was infuriated for his actions and turned him into a woman. After the transformation, the pistillate Tiresias served arsenic a priestess for Hera. The punishment lasted for 7 years during which Tiresias joined and had children.

After 7 years had passed, the pistillate Tiresias came crossed different brace of snakes that were mating. Remembering the enactment that had caused her existent fate, she near the snakes alone. This reversed Hera’s curse, and Tiresias was turned into a antheral again.

Tiresias’ blindness

Likewise, Tiresias’ blindness was not a commencement defect but different divine reaction. It is said that 1 clip helium accidentally stumbled upon the goddess Athena portion she was bathing successful a lake. He recovered himself incapable to crook distant from her nakedness. As punishment for his discourtesy, the goddess blinded him.

Tiresias’ parent begged the goddess to reverse the curse, and aft lengthy persuasion, Athena agreed to springiness his show back. But erstwhile she tried to bash it, she recovered that she was incapable to. To marque amends for what she had done to Tiresias, she gave him the acquisition of prophecy. This would constituent his beingness successful a caller direction.

Tiresias claims women consciousness much pleasance during carnal connection

There is an alternate communicative regarding the events that caused the past Greek prophet’s blindness. The 2nd mentation says that Zeus and Hera were having a treatment astir whether males oregon females experienced much pleasance during sex. Hera said that it was the male, portion Zeus said it was the female.

The 2 gods drew the prophet into their dispute, for helium had already experienced beingness arsenic some a antheral and a woman, gaining penetration into some the antheral and pistillate perspectives of intimacy.

Tiresias replied with authority: “of 10 parts, a antheral enjoys 1 only” (Apollodorus, Library 3.6.7), meaning that women acquisition overmuch much pleasure. Offended by this conclusion, Hera struck Tiresias unsighted for his impiety. To compensate, Zeus granted Tiresias the acquisition of foresight and a lifespan of 7 generations.

Tiresias successful Thebes

Many of Tiresias’ prophetic tales situation him and those astir him successful the large metropolis of Thebes. It was Tiresias who told Amphytrion the information astir his woman Alcmene, who gave commencement to duplicate sons, Iphicles and Heracles. It was lone Iphicles who was the lad of Amphitryon due to the fact that Heracles was the lad of Zeus, who had seduced Alcmene during Amphitryon’s absence.

Tiresias is besides progressive successful the Narcissus communicative for telling his parent that the lad volition thrive arsenic agelong arsenic helium ne'er knows himself. Narcissus, though, saw his ain reflection successful the h2o and fell profoundly successful emotion with it, not realizing it was simply an image. The allure of his reflection successful the excavation made him make an unrequited emotion that could ne'er beryllium reciprocated by immoderate other. Than made Narcissus truthful bittersweet that helium mislaid his volition to unrecorded and committed suicide. In immoderate versions of the myth, Narcissus stared into his reflection until helium withered away.

In The Bacchae by Euripides, Tiresias appears with Cadmus, the laminitis and archetypal king of Thebes, to pass the existent king Pentheus against denouncing Dionysus arsenic a god. Cadmus and Tiresias formal arsenic worshipers of Dionysus and spell up the upland to grant the caller deity with the Theban women successful their Bacchic revels. Pentheus scolds the 2 aged men and orders his soldiers to apprehension anyone engaging successful Dionysian worship. Enraged, Dionysus destroys Pentheus for his impiety.

In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Oedipus, the king of Thebes, calls upon the large prophet to inquire him who killed the erstwhile King Laius. At first, Tiresias refuses to springiness a nonstop reply and alternatively hints that the slayer is idiosyncratic Oedipus truly does not privation to find. An angered Oedipus archetypal challenges Tiresias that helium has nary foresight and past accuses Tiresias of having a manus successful the murder. The prophet yet reveals that, successful fact, it is Oedipus himself who has unwittingly committed the transgression of sidesplitting his ain father. Outraged, Oedipus throws Tiresias retired of the palace. Later, to his horror, Oedipus realizes the truth.

Tiresias besides appears successful Sophocles’ Antigone. After the 2 brothers dice successful the warfare betwixt them, their uncle Creon becomes king of Thebes. The caller king refuses to let Antigone’s brother, Polynices, to beryllium buried. Antigone defies the bid and is caught. Creon decrees that she beryllium buried alive. The gods explicit their disapproval of Creon’s determination to not hide the dormant done Tiresias, who tells Creon that: “the metropolis is sick done your fault.” Antigone, alternatively of being buried alive, takes her ain beingness by hanging herself. When Creon arrives astatine her tomb, his son, Haemon who loves Antigone, attacks Creon for his determination and kills himself. When Creon’s wife, Eurydice, is informed of her lad and Antigone’s deaths, she excessively takes her ain life.

Death of Tiresias

Thebes was attacked again, this clip by the Epigoni, the sons of the archetypal invaders, the Seven Against Thebes. They took implicit the metropolis and burned it. The Thebans had to fly and Tiresias was among them. On his journey, helium yet stopped astatine the outpouring Telphusa adjacent Haliartus, and drank from its infected waters. It was the past happening helium did connected Earth. In different tale, Apollo killed Tiresias with an arrow dipped successful the tainted spring. His psyche instantly entered the archetypal level of Hades.

However, Athena had promised to his parent Chariclo that helium would support his prophetic powers adjacent aft his death. In the Odyssey, pursuing the proposal of Circe, Odysseus sacrifices a ram and a achromatic ewe and frankincense summons the shadiness of Tiresias successful the Underworld. After drinking the humor of the animals, the prophet warns Odysseus not to harm the cattle of Helios, foretells his aboriginal wanderings and his eventual triumph implicit his wife’s suitors successful Ithaca. He yet consoles him that helium volition dice “a gentle, painless decease acold from the oversea . . . successful ripe aged age.”

Symbols and depictions

Through the years, Tiresias became the archetypal unsighted prophet. Humbled by his condition, helium is not arrogant of his quality to foretell events. He speaks the information of his imaginativeness of aboriginal events and does not combat those who uncertainty his abilities. Characteristically, helium doesn’t combat with Oedipus erstwhile Oedipus says that helium doesn’t talk the “truth.”

Tiresias arsenic erstwhile a antheral who could see, represents the blindness of those who tin spot but garbage to spot and judge the truth.

The unsighted Ancient Greek prophet has often been depicted successful art. His representations alteration arsenic immoderate artists person visualized Tiresias arsenic a helium and others arsenic a she. Also, immoderate contiguous him arsenic a unsighted antheral and others arsenic 1 who tin see. He often appears with a achromatic beard, foreseeing the future.

Several artists see successful their enactment the snakes that helium killed, which led Hera to alteration him into a woman. The cane helium carries successful immoderate artworks symbolizes his aged property but besides his authority.