Tiresias

From what I have read through the Internet, Tiresias was a blind seer from Thebes. He was Everes and the nymph Chariclo. There are various versions of how he became blind. One of that is Tiresias was born with the gift of foretelling. The gods feared that Tiresias would see too much that the gods wished to keep conceal. So the gods took his eyesight, depriving the seer of physical vision. The second version told that Tiresias became blind after he accidentally saw Goddess Athena was bathing. Athena immediately struck Teiresias blind, without thinking. This upset Chariclo, who happened to be Athena's favourite companion. To compensate Teiresias' loss of sight, Athena gave him several gifts. Athena gave him second sight (gift of prophecy) the ability to understand the speech of birds. He was also awarded an unnaturally long life, which spanned over 7 generations. And after his death, he would still have the ability to retain his memory and his second sight, when he will reside in the Underworld. But the most popular version is by Hesiod and Ovid. According to them, the young Tiresias was out in the country, at the foot of Mount Cithaeron, when he came upon two snakes mating. With his staff, he killed the female snake, which caused him to transform into a young woman. For seven years, he lived his life as a woman. Then he came upon the same snakes and was transformed back into a man.


Adapted from: www.sikyon.com/Thebes/teiresias_eg.html