Most mythological accounts hold relatively consistent for the cause of Tiresias's sex changes: he struck and wounded two mating snakes with his staff and was turned into a female until, seven years later, he returned to the same site, struck the same snakes, and turned back into a male.
The blindness: as Mrs. King informed us, one version of the cause for Tiresias' blindness is his involvement in Zeus' and Hera's argument regarding which gender enjoys sex more. When he was asked to resolve the argument, he, to the disdain of Hera, said that women enjoy sex much more. Hera then struck him blind. Zeus, in return for Tiresias agreeing with him, gave him the gift of prophecy.
Some other interesting versions: one story goes that Athena cursed Tiresias with blindness after he accidentally saw her bathing. Tiresias's mother (Chariclo) then asked Athena to restore his sight. Athena was unable to do so, so she instead gave him the gift of prophecy.
Methods in which he received oracles: In "Oedipus" we are told that Tiresias hears the oracle straight from Apollo. In several other mythological stories, Tiresias receives his visions through the songs of birds or the smoke of a burning sacrifice.
Personally, I find Tiresias pretty awesome. He is a mere mortal but seems to transcend time (we see him in the Odyssey as well as "Oedipus") and the regular status of humans. The issue of the divinities versus humans was regularly explored in Greek tragedies. I found it interesting how, while Tiresias is not a god, he is often viewed in the same light. Many characters, including Oedipus initially, view Tiresias in a sort of divine light due to his prophecy abilities.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiresias
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tiresias
1 comment:
Very interesting blog post Bennett! Tiresias is my favorite character in the play as well (although you didn’t explicitly state that he is your favorite character but I will assume). A couple of nights ago, when you snapchatted a picture of Tiresias mocking Oedipus for solving the riddles, I could tell that you identified similarly to him with his wittiness and sarcastic remarks. While reading the scene with Oediupus and Tiresias, Tiresias reminded me of you because of his personality. When Mrs. King was asking for a volunteer to reenact some lines, and you raised your hand very quickly, I expected you to want to be Tiresias. I wonder if your aura color(s) is the same as Tiresias.
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