Hannah Biddle, University of Oxford
Prophets in the Classical World were one of the few public and socially accepted figures that were not inextricably linked with the male gender. A µάντις could be male, female or even exist outside the gender binary, and this observation opens an avenue to explore the dynamics of gender and vatic authority. The intersection of these two concepts exists in Tiresias, the blind prophet from Thebes, who is known for his unerring prophecies, the mysterious and mythological aetiology of his blindness, as well as his transformation(s) into a woman, exemplifying not only the relationship between gender and foresight but inserting the additional concept of blindness. The number of other blind seers throughout antiquity, as well as the Freudian theory of blindness as castration (1953, 398), emphasises the relationships between blindness and prophecy as well as blindness and sex: Tiresias links and unites all three elements. From his prophetic powers to his physical disability to his bigender identity, Tiresias epitomises a queer, non-normative intersection as a mythological and literary figure. By analysing the three primary literary accounts of Tiresias in Hesiod, Callimachus and Sostratus, this paper strengthens the intersectionality between blindness, foresight and genderfluidity in Tiresias.
Modern scholars emphasise these aspects too; Gabbertas (2020) marks a departure from binary assumptions around Tiresias, rethinking terms like ‘bisexual’ that haunt Tiresias’ depiction in previous scholarship (Brisson 1976, 2002; Carp 1983; Michalopoulos 2012) and rejects the cis-normative view of Tiresias as exclusively male. Loraux (2014) and Giusti (2016) have additionally highlight the socio-cultural impact of Tiresias as an Othered body. However, while scholars often discuss all three concepts of genderfluidity, prophecy and blindness in Tiresias, rarely are all three examined together, or at least in conjunction with each other. Whilst Nissinen (2017), Buxton (1980) and Devereux (1973) analyse the relationships between genderfluidity and prophecy, prophecy and blindness, and sex and blindness respectively, these concepts have not yet been examined altogether. This paper strengthens the bond between these characteristics of Tiresias showing that each relationship’s respective classical literary tradition only heightens the characterisation of Tiresias and portrays him as an increasingly queer figure that exists at the intersections of Otherness in Ancient Greece.
First, I will examine the relationship between genderfluidity and prophecy, looking at prophecy as a gendered phenomenon, as well as at other genderqueer prophetic individuals such as the Galli priests and the Enarees. I argue that Tiresias’ knowledge of the male and female sex not only causes but is essential to his prophetic abilities. Secondly, I will examine the relationship between prophecy and blindness, exploring the tradition of blind seers in antiquity and how it simultaneously emphasises them as both divine and mortal, as shown by Tiresias in Oedipus Tyrannos and the Callimachean tradition. Finally, I will discuss the relationship between genderfluidity and blindness, and how blindness is frequently used as a punishment for sexual deviancy. Tiresias’ queerness extends beyond binaries. His genderfluidity not only acts as a precursor to his blindness; his punishment of blindness prefigures his genderfluidity.