Tiresias

Teiresias is a blind prophet of Thebes. He was the son of Eueres, a shepherd and Charicloa, a nymph, a minor goddess or spirit of nature.

There were several reasons for his blindness.
1. Teiresias accidentally saw goddess Athena bathing and she blinded him. Teiresias’s mother begged Athena to undo her curse but she could not. Instead, she gave him the gift of prophecy and a life seven generations longer. After Athena cleaned his ears and gave him the ability to listen to bird song, Teiresias was able to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of the birds.


2. Teiresias saw two snakes coupling and killed one of them with a stick. Hera, the goddess of marriage and woman was displeased and transformed him into a woman. Teiresias became the priestess of Hera, got married and had children. After seven years, he met mating snakes again and struck it. As a result, Teiresias was free from his punishment and regained his masculinity.

3. There was an argument between Zeus and Hera about who has more pleasure in sex Zeus thinks that the woman had more pleasure while Hera thinks it is the man. As Teiresias has experience as both man and woman, Teiresias was questioned. Teiresias reveal women’s secret where woman enjoy greater pleasure compared to man. Hera instantly struck Teiresias blind because of his disrespect. Zeus could not do anything but compensated him with a gift of prophecy and a life of seven generations.

Teiresias name appeared in several Greek tragedies in the history of Thebes.

In The Bacchae, by Euripides, Tiresias appears with Cadmus, the founder and first king of Thebes, to warn the current king Pentheus against denouncing Dionysus as a god.
In Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus, the king of Thebes, calls upon Tiresias to help him in the investigation of the killing of the previous king Laius. Teiresias revealed that it was Oedipus himself who single handedly killed his father, King Laius.
In Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes, Megareus kills himself because of Tiresias' prophecy that a voluntary death from a Theban would save the city.
In Antigone by Sophocles, the gods express their disapproval of Creon's decision through Tiresias. However, it was ignored, resulting in many deaths.

Teiresias died when he was struck by an arrow of Apollo at the spring Tilphussa.

Oedipus Rex by Sophocles

This week's lecture regarding Oedipus Rex is a good start. Selected students were asked to walk the way Oedipus would walk when he enters the stage.

When i first read the play, i did not pay much attention to the stage direction. All i wanted to know was the contnent of the story. I knew that Oedipus had clubfoot, but never would I imagine the way he ways and that he needs a staff to help him walk. I imagined him to be walking arrogantly, with head held high.
Only when Dr Edwin mentioned that only one friend walked the right way which is with a little limp, I realised how ignorant I have been.

Maybe in the future, I should also ask my students to act out the stage directions for the prologue/ Act one so that they have a clearer picture of how the setting of the stage would be like.

Of course, Dr Edwin's lecture has always been informative as he introduced new ideas in each lessons.

New things learnt this week:
Wisdom/ Wise
Fool/Foolish
Significance of hands and eyes
How ironic Oedipus' speech could be
How the dialogue can portray the characters

Have you ever wondered that one person may think that he is wise but he is actually foolish? Oedipus tries to help Thebes, his people to overcome the plague that they are facing by finding the murderer of King Laius. He thinks that he is being wise but the truth destroys him. He is the murderer that he is looking for. His good intentions end up hurting him and he had to live in exile. So, be wise :)

-EYes-
One can have eyes to see, but does not see the truth. One can be blind but see more than a sighted person can see. Why do I say so? Teiresias, a blind prophet knows the truth but not Oedipus. Oedipus has eyes to see, but he does not see the truth. He does not know that he is the pollution of the country.


:)