Silly Greeks

[anksforthe]

So here's a question that hit me in the Girard class today. We're reading Oedipus Rex, and we get to the part where Oedious asks Tiresius to find a cure to the plague by divinations and the signs of the birds. My question was laughed at and kinda sidestepped--rightly so, we were on to more important matters, as they say--but I think it needs

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[quisara]

Ooh, I feel a little dirty answering this one, mostly because I'm putting my OSU time to work... but on the upside, I'm putting my OSU time to work!

Tiresias "reads" the birds in two ways: One, by killing them and reading the entrails (this always seemed like a really gross way to foretell the future... just sayin'); Two, and far more important given his personal traits, is listening to their cries. He basically listens for the birds to tell him things, given the way they call, their patterns of movement, etc.

...

And I feel both good and bad for knowing that.