Blog 5: Teiresias, the Theban Seer

Teiresias was a blind prophet of Thebes. He appears in several stories and Greek tragedies that concerns Thebes such as Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Antigone, The Bacchae by Euripides and Seven against Thebes by Aeschylus.

Teiresias is not blind by birth but it is believed that he is blinded by Athena because he accidentally came across her while she was bathing naked. His mother, Chariclo who is Athena’s nymph begged her to undo the curse but she was not able to undo it, instead she gave Teiresias the gift of prophecy. Teiresias had served Thebes for 7 generations, beginning as an advisor to Cadmus, the founder and the first king of Thebes.

In Oedipus Rex, Teiresias is ordered to meet Oedipus to aid in the investigation of King Laios’ murderer. Teiresias refuses to give an answer; ‘Teiresias: Let me go home. Bear your own fate, and I’ll bear mine. It is better so: trust what I say.’ (Scene I, page 1392, line 105-106). He reveals the answer at last after being provoked by Oedipus. He loses his temper and reveals that it was Oedipus himself who had murdered King Laios, his own biological father. Oedipus was outraged and threw Teiresias out of the palace. At the end of the play, Oedipus realizes that Teiresias’ prophecy is true.

In a nutshell, Teiresias is an important character in Greek plays because his role as the prophet or the seer gives insight to the audience on what will happen in the later part of the play, thus contributing to the plot development of the play.