Tīrĕsias

, a celebrated prophet of Thebes, son of Everus and Chariclo. He lived to a great age, which some authors have called as long as seven generations of men, others six, and others nine, during the time that Polydorus, Labdacus, Laius, Œdip us, and his sons sat on the throne of Thebes. It is said that in his youth he found two serpents in the act of copulation on mount Cyllene, and that when he had struck them with a stick to separate them, he found himself suddenly changed into a girl. Seven years after he found again some serpents together in the same manner, and he recovered his original sex, by striking them a second time with his wand. When he was a woman, Tires i as had married, and it was from those reasons, according to some of the ancients, that Jupiter and Juno referred to his decision, a dispute in which the deities wished to know which of the sexes received greater pleasure from the connubial state. Tires i as, who could speak from actual experience, decided in favour of Jupiter, and declared, that the pleasure which the female received was 10 times greater than that of the male. Juno, who supported a different opinion, and gave the superiority to the male sex, punished Tires i as by depriving him of his eyesight. But this dreadful lo was in some measure repaired by the humanity of Jupiter, who bestowed upon him the gift of prophecy, and permitted him to live seven times more than the rest of men. These causes of the blindne of Tires i as, which are supported by the authority of Ovid, Hyginus, and others, are contradicted by Apollo dor us, Call i mach us, Pro pert i us, . , who declare that this was inflicted upon him as a punishment, because he had seen Minerva bathing in the fountain Hippocrene, on mount Helicon. Chariclo, who accompanied Minerva, complained of the severity with which her son was treated; but the godde , who well knew that this was the irrevocable punishment inflicted by Saturn on such mortals as fix their eyes upon a godde without her consent, alleviated the misfortunes of Tires i as, by making him acquainted with futurity, and giving him a staff which could conduct his steps with as much safety as if he had the use of his eye-sight. During his lifetime, Tires i as was an infallible oracle to all Greece. The generals, during the Theban war, consulted him, and found his predictions verified. He drew his prophecies sometimes from the flight or the language of birds, in which he was a isted by his daughter Manto, and sometimes he drew the manes from the infernal regions to know futurity, with mystical ceremonies. He at last died, after drinking the waters of a cold fountain, which froze his blood. He was buried with great pomp by the The bans on mount Tilphu es, and honoured as a god. His oracle at Orc home nos was in universal esteem. Homer represents Uly es as going to the infernal regions to consult Tires i as concerning his return to Ithaca. Apollo dor us , bk. 3 , ch. 6 .— Theocritus , Idylls , poem 24, li. 70 .— Statius , Thebaid , bk. 2 , li. 96 .— Hyginus , fable 75.— Aeschylus , Seven Against Thebes .— Sophocles , Œdip us Tyrannus .— Pindar , Nemean , poem 1.— Diodorus , bk. 4 .— Homer , Ody ey , bk. 11 .— Plutarch , Convivium Septem Sapientium , . — Pausanias , bk. 9 , ch. 33 .