What is Tiresias prophecy in Antigone?
Tiresias warns Creon that the gods disapprove of the desecration of Polynices’ corpse and will punish him with the death of his own son, Haemon.
What prophecies does Tiresias make?
Tiresias is a famous blind seer of Apollo. He gives a prophecy to Odysseus about his further journey and its end. The seer says that Odysseus’ voyage home will be full of difficulties and hardships. He warns him about the grazing herds of Helios on Thrinakia.
What does Tiresias predict for Creon?
Tiresias warns Creon that he is at a turning point, and that Polynices’s body must be buried to appease the gods and protect Thebes from their wrath. Tiresias tells Creon not to be stubborn in his decision to refuse to bury Polynices. Instead, he should see himself as only human and capable of making mistakes.
What prophecy does Tiresias give Oedipus?
Tiresias warns Oedipus that Oedipus is the blind one—blind to the corrupt details of his own life. Oedipus, a man of action, describes blindness as an inability to see. Tiresias, the seer, describes it as an inability to see the truth.
Why was Tiresias turned into a woman?
Reportedly, he had been turned into a woman as the result of having struck and wounded mating snakes. When Tiresias returned to the site of the transformation seven years later to see if the “spell” could be reversed, Tiresias did indeed see the same snakes coupling and was changed back into a man.
Why is Tiresias important in Antigone?
The blind prophet, or seer, who warns Creon not to execute Antigone and not to stick so rigidly to his decision to disallow the burial of Polynices. When Creon insults Tiresias, the seer prophesies that the gods will punish Creon for Antigone’s death by taking the life of his child.
Who turned Tiresias into a woman?
Hera
Tiresias strikes two snakes with a stick, and is transformed into a woman by Hera.
What does Tiresias do after he gives Creon his warning?
Hearing this, Creon curses Tiresias, calling him a false prophet who traffics in poor advice and rhetoric. Creon accuses all prophets of being power-hungry fools, but Tiresias turns the insult back on tyrants like Creon.
What warning does Tiresias give Creon if he refuses to heed the prophecies?
What warning does Teiresias give to King Creon if he refuses to heed the prophesies? Teiresias warns Creon that he shall have to “pay back/Corpse for corpse, flesh of his own flesh” as punishment for angering the gods.
Why does Tiresias refuse to tell Oedipus the truth?
To Oedipus, blind prophet Tiresias is neglecting his civic duty by refusing to speak. He asserts that any “patriot of Thebes” would speak whatever knowledge he has and try to help find the murderer of the King so that he can be brought to justice.
Who killed Tiresias?
arrow of Apollo
Tiresias died after drinking water from the tainted spring Tilphussa, where he was impaled by an arrow of Apollo. His shade descended to the Asphodel Meadows, the first level of Hades.
Who did Tiresias marry?
The myths hold that Tiresias came upon a pair of mating snakes. He hit both snakes with his stick, angering Zeus’ wife Hera. Hera, therefore, transformed him into a female. Tiresias married and had children and seven years later came upon another set of mating snakes.
Why is it ironic that Teiresias is blind in Antigone?
The Irony of Teiresias’s blindness is that even though he is blind he can “see” more than someone who is not blind. He can “see” that Oedipus is the murder and the wife of his mother while Oedipus cannot see what he has done.
Why is it ironic that the prophet Teiresias is blind?
Why is it particularly ironic that Teiresias, the prophet, is blind? Ironic because Oedipus Rex becomes blind too. The prophet can see the future, trying to avoid the future made it come true. Oedipus is angry he was cut off in the road and killed people.
Who told Oedipus about the prophecy?
Read more about the symbolism of the three-way crossroads in Oedipus the King. In this section, Jocasta is both careless and maternal. She tells Oedipus that prophecies do not come true, and she uses the fact that an oracle incorrectly prophesied that Laius would be killed by his own son as evidence.
What terrible thing does Oedipus accuse Teiresias of doing?
What terrible thing does Oedipus accuse Tiresias of doing? Plotting to murder the king.
Who does Tiresias represent?
The blind prophet of Thebes appears in Oedipus the King and Antigone. In both plays, he represents the same force — the truth rejected by a willful and proud king, almost the personification of Fate itself.
What kind of irony is Tiresias being blind?
Why is it particularly ironic that Teiresias, the prophet, is blind? Ironic because Oedipus Rex becomes blind too. The prophet can see the future, trying to avoid the future made it come true.
What is ironic about Teiresias?
What is ironic about Teiresias’s situation? The Irony of Teiresias’s blindness is that even though he is blind he can “see” more than someone who is not blind. He can “see” that Oedipus is the murder and the wife of his mother while Oedipus cannot see what he has done.
Why did Tiresias refuse to tell the truth to Oedipus?
While Tiresias brings the truth to Oedipus, he refuses to reveal it until he is threatened and ridiculed. Oedipus, who claims to seek the truth, does not truly want to hear what Tiresias has to say. Tiresias is fully aware of Oedipus’ temper and his response to the news the prophet brings him, and so refuses to speak.
Who does Tiresias predict will be Oedipus’s downfall?
The truth revealed to Oedipus, what does Tiresias predict for him? Oedipus will become poor, homeless, godless, and blind.
What is ironic in the fact that Tiresias is blind and Oedipus can see?
Why is it particularly ironic that Teiresias the prophet is blind?
What is the irony in Antigone’s punishment?
Sophocles uses irony as a means to murder; he ironically kills both our protagonist and antagonist in their ironies; Antigone, who fought her fate to die yet kills herself in prison; and Creon, who gains power and riches but loses his family from his hubris.
What is the significance of Tiresias being blind?
Zeus, in thanks for his support, gave him the gifts of prophecy and longevity. Another version has it that Tiresias was blinded by Athena after he saw her bathing. Chariclo begged her to help him, so Athena, instead of restoring his ability to see the physical world, gave him the ability to see the future.