Tiresias

Tiresias (tīrē`shəs, -sēəs), in Greek mythology, a blind soothsayer who appears in many legends. According to one myth, when he saw Athena bathing she blinded him, but by way of compensation granted him prophetic powers. Another story is that Hera blinded him for disparaging her sex when he claimed that women enjoyed love more than men; Zeus then recompensed him with long life and the power of prophecy.

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Tiresias

In Greek mythology, a blind Theban seer. In Homer's Odyssey he retained his prophetic gifts even in the underworld, where Odysseus was sent to consult him. His prophecy led to the tragedy of Oedipus. It was said that Tiresias lived for seven generations and that he was once turned into a woman for killing the female of two mating snakes; upon thereafter killing the male, he reverted to male. According to one legend, he was blinded by Hera for arguing, on the basis of his unique experience, that women derive greater pleasure from sex than men do; his gift of prophecy was a compensatory gesture from Zeus.

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Tiresias

prophet who lived as man and a woman. [Gk. Myth.: Zimmerman, 255–256]

See : Androgyny

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Tiresias

made sightless by Athena for viewing her nakedness. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 1086]

See : Blindness

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Tiresias

blind and greatest of all mythological prophets. [Gk. Myth.: Zimmerman, 255; Gk. Lit.: Antigone; Odyssey; Oedipus Tyrannus]

See : Prophecy

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Tiresias

saw two snakes copulating and was changed into a woman. [Gk. Myth.: Jobes, 1576]

See : Transformation