Talking about Teiresias and what I have discovered about him, there are a few versions about how he became blind. One of them associated with a Greek god, Zeus and his wife, Hera. It is said that he came upon a pair of copulating snakes and hit them with his stick. Hera was not pleased and turned him into a woman. He was turned to a man back by Zeus after 7 years. This happen when he was drawn into an argument between Zeus and Hera upon a subject both of them was arguing about – whether men or women have more pleasure in sex and he said Zeus is true that the answer is women. But Hera immediately struck him blind. Then, Zeus gifted him the gift of prophecy and 7 lives. Another version is he was blinded by Athena, one of the Greek goddess because he had stumbled onto her bathing naked. His mother, a nymph of Athena begged her to undo her curse but instead, she gifted him the ability of augury.
What I want to highlight here is that, it is why he is such a powerful seer despite of his blindness. He was not only has a gift of foresight which the ability to know and see the future but also has experienced both man and woman life. Furthermore, he also has been gifted seven lives from Zeus and lives for seven generations at Thebes. His oracle is always right and people believe him. I am sure that the myths of Teiresias blindness making him such a powerful prophet.
In Oedipus Rex, what I have discovered about Teiresias is he is a blind prophet who knows everything about Oedipus’s fate but he reluctant to tell anyone especially Oedipus because it will harm the king in the end. But he hinted Oedipus that the murderer of King Laios is someone who he wouldn’t want to know (which is Oedipus himself) after gets angry being confronted by Oedipus. Here, theme of sight and blindness arises which relates to his ability to see the future despite of his blindness. Contrast with Oedipus who can see but has no insight to make him realize or see the truth.
He appears a lot in Greek tragic plays such as Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes, Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, and Antigone and so on. Most of them show the powerful ability of fortune-telling Teiresias has.
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Auni comments on the reasons of Teiresias’s blindness. I have also discovered this information from the website. She said about several reasons for Teiresias’s blindness. Teiresias is a powerful seer since he knows the future. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus seeks for his help to reveal the murderer of King Laios. However, I think that Teiresias makes mistake whenever he is angry. He accidentally hints Oedipus about the murderer. In my opinion, sometimes the power of knowing the truth can harm other people. For example in Oedipus Rex, the prophecies led King Laios to kill his son. This knowledge of truth makes a big difference in the life of people. Greek people believe in the existence of prophet so Teiresias appears as powerful seer in many Greek plays
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