Teiresias

Japanese: テイレシアス（英語表記）Teiresias

A blind seer who plays an important role in the legend of Thebes in Greek mythology. According to one version, he was blinded after seeing Athena naked while she was bathing, but in return he was given the ability to predict. Another version says that he saw some snakes mating in the mountains, and when he divided or injured them, he turned into a woman. Seven years later, he saw another snake mating in the same place and did the same thing as before, and turned back into a man. Later, when Zeus and Hera were arguing about which gets more pleasure from sexual intercourse, he was asked for his opinion. He answered truthfully that women get nine times more pleasure from sexual intercourse than men, which angered Hera and he was blinded. However, Zeus is said to have given him the power of prediction and a lifespan seven times longer than that of an ordinary person. He appears as a seer in almost all stories set in Thebes, and had a daughter named Manto, a female seer, but he died shortly after the Epigoni took Thebes. However, Zeus allowed him to retain his prophetic powers even after death, so Odysseus, at Circe's urging, summoned him from the underworld and asked for his prophecy about how to return home.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

ギリシア神話のテーベ伝説中で活躍する盲目の予言者。一伝によれば，水浴中のアテナの裸身を見たため，盲目にされたが，その代償に予言の能力を与えられたとされるが，また一伝では山中で交尾しているへびを見て，これを分けあるいは傷つけたところが，女性に変ってしまい，7年後に同じ場所で，また交尾中のへびを見て前と同じことをすると男に戻った。その後あるとき，ゼウスとヘラが，性交から得られる快楽は，男と女のどちらが大きいか論争したおりに意見を求められて，女の快楽のほうが男の9倍大きいという真実を答えたため，ヘラの怒りを買って盲目にされた。しかしゼウスは，彼に予言の力と常人の7倍の長さの寿命を与えたといわれる。テーベを舞台に展開する物語のほとんどすべてに予言者として登場し，マントという女予言者の娘ももうけたが，エピゴノイによるテーベ攻略の直後に死んだ。だがゼウスは彼に，死後もなお予言力を保つことを許したので，オデュッセウスはキルケのすすめに従い，彼を冥府から呼出し，帰国の方法につきその予言を求めたとされる。

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