I had discovered that in several stories and Greek Tragedies, Tiresias appears as the name of a recurring character concerning the legendary history of Thebes. In The Bacchae, by Euripides, Tiresias appears with Cadmus, the founder and first king of Thebes, to warn the current king Pentheus against denouncing Dionysus as a god. Tiresias also appear in Sophocles' Oedipus the King and Antigone.
In my opinion, Tiresias is such a powerful seer and often plays an important role in many stories in Greek is because of his ability of knowing the truth and foretelling it. Besides that, he is the one who has the power to deliver the god’s will and he has the prophetic sight. Hence, people will believe in what he said. Then the king always feel threaten by the power of religious. For example, In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, Oedipus, the king of Thebes, calls upon Tiresias to aid in the investigation of the killing of the previous king Laius. Half of the inverstigation, Oedipus wanted to punish Tiresias and claim that he has snare with Creon. After the revelation, Tiresias’s foretelling is proved to be perfectly matched with Oedipus’s deed. Then, Oedipus physically blinds himself in the end of the story. It shows that the prophet Teiresias, though literally blind, “sees” the truth and relays what is revealed to him. Tiresias is also serves as a comparison to the people who has clear eye sight but blind to the truth. The writer uses the prophetic knowledge and his intelligent to mock the people in the story.
In conclusion, Tiresias has the strong influence in Greek culture and sometimes we will seek advice from him as a precaution from doing things wrongly.
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