Tiresias

Tiresias, has often appears in Greek theater. Who is he in our perception?
Reading about Tiresias is intresting as he is the aged blind prophet whose appearance turns the plot in all Greek tragedies set in Thebes. He tells the truth about the past, present and future but however, the characters who need to pay attention are too distracted to listen. Too late when Oedipus and Creon realize that his words were accurate and reliable.
However I found that it fascinates me when there are two conflicting stories where both recorded by Apollodorus whom telling us why Tiresias became blind, and how he became the religious consultant to the rulers of Thebes at least for seven generations. In the first story, out in the countryside with his mother, young Tiresias saw Athena bathing nude in a pool. His reactions are not recorded, but his punishment was swift and severe where, he was struck blind, to ensure he would never again see what man was not intended to see. But having lost his eyesight, he was given a special gift, where he is be able to understand the language of the birds and thus it help him to predict the future
In the other version, near Mount Kyllene in the Peloponnese, Tiresias came upon a pair of snakes lustfully intertwined. He hit the copulating couple a smart blow with his stick, presumably striking a blow for animal decency. But Hera was not pleased, as the sensuous seductress of Zeus, she heartily approved of sex, even for the lower creatures. His punishment was cruel, and the worst a man could imagine. He was transformed into a woman, in mind as well as the body. But later after seeing the copulating snakes again, but this time alllowing them their pleasure; he was released from his sentence, and permitted to resume his masculinity. All could then have been well, but Tiresias was drawn into an argument between Hera and her husband Zeus. It is a common area for marital discussion wherethe question is "who has more pleasure in sex - the man or the woman?" Hera was clever enough to let Zeus believe that men were superior in this as in everything else. But it was then they decided to check with Tiresias for only he had known what it was actually like in the two roles. He revealed woman's greatest secret on a scale of ten, she gets nine parts of the pleasure to his one. Hera was furious, and instantly struck him blind where, Zeus couldn't do anything to stop her istead he did give Tiresias the gift of second sight.
Thus, I believe that in Greek theatre, Tiresias plays an important role as he is the God voice to remind we as the mortal to hear and being more sensitive towards our life.