Tiresias, Soothsayer extraordinaire
In Greek mythology, Tiresias was a blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. Like other oracles, how Tiresias obtained his information varied: sometimes, he would receive visions, other times he would listen for the songs of birds, or ask for a description of visions and pictures appearing within the smoke of burnt offerings or entrails, and so interpret them. Pliny the Elder credits Tiresias with the invention of augury. In his text De Divinatione, Cicero admits several other nations besides the Romans paid attention to the patterns of flying birds as signs from the gods as well. Tiresias became a common title for soothsayers throughout Greek legendary history. According to the mythographic compendium Bibliotheke, different stories were told of the cause of Tiresias' blindness, the most direct being that he was simply blinded by the gods for revealing their secrets. An alternative story told by Pherecy...