The Legendary Tiresias

The story of Oedipus Rex is famous Roman tragedies. It is about a king of Thebes upon whom a hereditary cursed is placed and who therefore has to suffer the tragic consequences of his own fate. While I was reading, there is one character Tiresias that I found interesting and mysterious: Tiresias. He was the first character in the play to question Oedipus’s assumption that he knows his parentage and to tell him that he has committed atrocities which he does not yet know are his own. Was he a real human?

Tiresias in greek mythology is known as blind prophet of Thebes. He could transform into a beautiful woman for seven years. Also, he was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo means a mythological spirit of nature imagined as a beautiful maiden. It is difficult to find relationship between Tiresias and other characters and Tiresias’s background from male then fully female as important as for his experiences and prophecy. In the early part of the story, Oedipus questions Tiresias, the soothsayer, who at first refuses to speak. Angered at this silence, Oedipus accuses him of being the murderer himself. Tiresias speaks at last, stating that the murderer of the king is a king. Terrified, Oedipus then accuses Tiresias of being in league with Creon, who he believes covets the throne.