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Tiresias
TiresiasTiresias, a blind prophet, appears in many Greek myths. Several tales account for his blindness. One tells that he was struck blind as a boy when he saw Athena* bathing. Later Athena felt sorry for Tiresias but could not restore his sight. Instead, she gave him the gift of prophecy and the ability to understand the language of the birds. In another myth, Tiresias came across two snakes mating. He killed the female snake and was transformed into a woman. Seven years later, he again saw two mating snakes; this time he killed the male snake and became a man. Because he had been both man and woman, Zeus* and Hera* asked him to settle an argument: Which of the sexes enjoys love more? When Tiresias replied that man gives more pleasure than he receives, Hera struck him blind. To make up for this deed, Zeus gave Tiresias the ability to foresee the future and allowed him to live an extraordinarily long life. prophet one who claims to have received divine messages or insights prophecy foretelling of what is to come; also something that is predicted underworld land of the dead One of Tiresias 's gifts was that his spirit could still utter prophecies in the underworld. In the Odyssey *, the hero Odysseus goes to the underworld to seek advice from Tiresias. In the story of Oedipus*, Tiresias revealed that Oedipus had killed his father and married his own mother. In Antigone by Sophocles, Tiresias warns Creon against punishing Antigone for burying her brother. In yet another tale, Tiresias warned Pentheus, the king of Thebes, to pay tribute to the god Dionysus*. Pentheus, however, refused to listen to Tiresias and was torn to pieces by a group of Dionysus's followers called the Maenads. See also SEERS. |
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"Tiresias." Myths and Legends of the World. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Tiresias." Myths and Legends of the World. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3490900480.html "Tiresias." Myths and Legends of the World. 2001. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3490900480.html |
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Tiresias
Tiresias a blind Theban prophet, so wise that even his ghost had its wits and was not a mere phantom. According to some legends, he spent seven years as a woman. He was said to have been asked by Zeus and Hera whether a man or a woman derived more pleasure from the act of love; when he answered that a man did, Hera blinded him, but Zeus gave him in recompense a gift for unfailing prophecy.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Tiresias." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Tiresias." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Tiresias.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Tiresias." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Tiresias.html |
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Tiresias
Tiresias , in Greek mythology, a blind soothsayer who appears in many legends. According to one myth, when he saw Athena bathing she blinded him, but by way of compensation granted him prophetic powers. Another story is that Hera blinded him for disparaging her sex when he claimed that women enjoyed love more than men; Zeus then recompensed him with long life and the power of prophecy. |
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Cite this article
"Tiresias." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Tiresias." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Tiresias.html "Tiresias." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Tiresias.html |
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Tiresias
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Cite this article
MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Tiresias." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Tiresias." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-Tiresias.html MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Tiresias." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-Tiresias.html |
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Tiresias
Tiresias
•Bierce, fierce, Pearce, Peirce, pierce, tierce
•Fabius, scabious
•Eusebius
•amphibious, Polybius
•dubious • Thaddeus • compendious
•radius • tedious
•fastidious, hideous, insidious, invidious, perfidious
•Claudius
•commodious, melodious, odious
•studious • Cepheus
•Morpheus, Orpheus
•Pelagius • callipygous • Vitellius
•alias, Sibelius, Vesalius
•Aurelius, Berzelius, contumelious, Cornelius, Delius
•bilious, punctilious, supercilious
•coleus • Julius • nucleus • Equuleus
•abstemious
•Ennius, Nennius
•contemporaneous, cutaneous, extemporaneous, extraneous, instantaneous, miscellaneous, Pausanias, porcellaneous, simultaneous, spontaneous, subcutaneous
•genius, heterogeneous, homogeneous, ingenious
•consanguineous, ignominious, Phineas, sanguineous
•igneous, ligneous
•Vilnius
•acrimonious, antimonious, ceremonious, erroneous, euphonious, felonious, harmonious, parsimonious, Petronius, sanctimonious, Suetonius
•Apollonius • impecunious
•calumnious • Asclepius • impious
•Scorpius
•copious, Gropius, Procopius
•Marius • pancreas • retiarius
•Aquarius, calcareous, Darius, denarius, gregarious, hilarious, multifarious, nefarious, omnifarious, precarious, Sagittarius, senarius, Stradivarius, temerarious, various, vicarious
•Atreus
•delirious, Sirius
•vitreous
•censorious, glorious, laborious, meritorious, notorious, uproarious, uxorious, vainglorious, victorious
•opprobrious
•lugubrious, salubrious
•illustrious, industrious
•cinereous, deleterious, imperious, mysterious, Nereus, serious, Tiberius
•curious, furious, injurious, luxurious, penurious, perjurious, spurious, sulphureous (US sulfureous), usurious
•Cassius, gaseous
•Alcaeus • Celsius
•Theseus, Tiresias
•osseous, Roscius
•nauseous
•caduceus, Lucius
•Perseus • Statius • Propertius
•Deo gratias • plenteous • piteous
•bounteous
•Grotius, Photius, Proteus
•beauteous, duteous
•courteous, sestertius
•Boethius, Prometheus
•envious • Octavius
•devious, previous
•lascivious, niveous, oblivious
•obvious
•Vesuvius, Vitruvius
•impervious, pervious
•aqueous • subaqueous • obsequious
•Dionysius
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Cite this article
"Tiresias." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Tiresias." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Tiresias.html "Tiresias." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Tiresias.html |
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