Tiresias was the blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes. His figure finds roots in Greek mythology and recurs in literature and art. In Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, Tiresias discloses an appalling truth to Oedipus when he reveals him that he is guilty of the ominous crime of killing his father and marrying his mother. Tiresias is a symbolic figure, which embodies a paradox: he is blind in the physical sense, but his knowledge surpasses all, as opposed to Oedipus who cannot see despite having a good eyesight.
