Tiresias, the blind seer

Another fascinating story that I have marvelled over for decades is the story of the blind seer, Tiresias. It's got it all.

It goes somewhat like this (there is another version, but this is the 'classic' imho): Tiresias wandering in a glen, finds 2 serpents (there's the snake theme again) entwined, as they do when coupling (a la the caduceus). Mesmerised, he pokes them absent-mindedly with his staff (the axis mundi?). Naturally, they don't like that at all and being quite unusual snakes they convert Tiresias from man to woman. Well he blundered into these same (?) snakes 7 years (a mystic number, 7... 7 days in a week, too) later and probed them with his staff again, thinking that if once converted him one way, twice would see him back to maleness. And so it proved.

But that's not how he was blinded. Zeus and Hera were arguing over who enjoyed sex more, the male or the female. Zeus thought that the woman had the greater pleasure. As they knew Tiresias had been both sexes, they asked him. Of course he sided with Zeus (supposedly rating the woman's pleasure 9 to a man's 1) and in a fit of pique Hera blinded him. Zeus took pity and gave him 2nd sight, the seer's gift of prophecy. This is intriguing because Hera, female, represents the moon, the earth, the night and all that is shades of grey; whereas Zeus, male, is more starkly black and white, like the blinding sun and its power to withdraw and create darkness. So Hera took away the Sun and Zeus gave Tiresias the Moon.