Teiresias is a legendary prophet who appears in lots of ancient Greek plays and stories. Teiresias also has an appearance in Oedipus Rex as a prophet and becomes the man who creates the conflict in the story.
Do you wonder how a blind man can see all the truth that happens in the state? Well, maybe we should look back at how Teiresias became blind to know how he got the gift of foreseeing events.
It is said that Teiresias became blind because he saw Athena bathing once and she sprinkled water on his face and he became blind. This happened when he was 7 years old. Chariclo, his mother, prayed to Athena to forgive her son but Athena could not reverse her curse but she bestowed him with the power of understanding the voices of the birds and a staff that will guide him in his life; he could walk just like people with eyesight with the staff.
The second myth about Teiresias's blindness is that he saw two snakes mating when he was 7 years old and he hit them with a stick. he was turned into female after he hit the snake. Again after 7 years, she saw mating snakes again and she hit them with her staff and become man again. As a result of his experiences, Zeus and Hera asked him to setle the question which sex experience more pleasure during intercourse. Zeus claimed it was women; Hera claimed it was men. When Teiresias sided with Zeus, Hera struck him blind. Since Zeus could not undo what she had done, he gave him the gift of prophecy.
Both these myths contradicts each other but one thing we can be sure of is that Teiresias was blinded by Hera (Athena).
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That's very interesting story you got there Renuga. However, after all the hardship that he had been trough, he had been granted with a very blissful gift. With those gift, he can gain information that another human cannot gain. In Oedipus Rex, King Oedipus had mocked him by calling him "the child of endless night". But i would say, it is better to be literally blind than morally blind.
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