Manto
Daughter of Tiresias and prophetess in her own right who was sent to Delphi as a war prize after Thebes fell.
The Legend of Manto
She inherited her father's prophetic gift — and the Greeks treated a prophetess as loot. Manto was Tiresias's daughter, trained in divination from childhood. When the Epigoni sacked Thebes, they dedicated the finest spoils to Apollo at Delphi, and Manto was among them. She served as prophetess there before being sent to Colophon in Asia Minor, where she founded an oracle. Her son Mopsus became the seer who defeated Calchas in a prophecy contest, causing Calchas to die. The prophetic lineage passed from Tiresias through Manto to Mopsus — three generations of seers. Virgil may have named Mantua (Mantova) after her.
Parents
Tiresias
Children
Mopsus
Symbols
Fun Fact
Virgil's birthplace Mantua may be named after Manto — making a prophetess the namesake of the poet's home.
Explore Further
Mopsus
🗡 heroprophecy
Son of Manto and grandson of Tiresias who defeated the great seer Calchas in a divination contest, causing Calchas to die.
Cassandra
🗡 heroprophecy
Trojan prophetess cursed by Apollo to always speak true prophecies that no one would ever believe.
Calchas
🗡 heroprophecy
Chief seer of the Greek army at Troy who interpreted omens, demanded Iphigenia's sacrifice, and foretold the war's length.
Tiresias
🗡 heroBlind prophet of Thebes
The most famous seer in Greek mythology, blinded by the gods but given the gift of prophecy in compensation. Tiresias advised kings and heroes across multiple generations.
Amphiaraus
🗡 heroThe prophet who foresaw his own death at Thebes
A warrior-prophet who knew the Seven Against Thebes would fail but marched to his death anyway, swallowed by the earth.
Melampus
🗡 heroNone recorded
The first mortal prophet in Greek tradition who gained the ability to understand the speech of animals after serpents licked his ears clean
Amythaon
🗡 heroProphecy, lineage
Thessalian prince and father of the great seer Melampus, founder of a celebrated prophetic dynasty
Oedipus
🗡 heroKing who fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother
The tragic king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, fulfilling a prophecy he had spent his life trying to avoid.
Teiresias
🗡 heroBlind prophet of Thebes
Tiresias was the blind seer of Thebes who experienced life as both man and woman, was blinded by the gods, and compensated with the gift of prophecy.
Amphilochus
🗡 heroprophecy, colonization
Seer and hero who founded oracle sites across the eastern Mediterranean after the Trojan War.
Helenos
🗡 heroProphecy, combat
Alternative transliteration of Helenus, Trojan prince and seer who foretold the fall of Troy
Teiresias
🗡 heroprophecy
Blind Theban prophet who lived seven generations and was the only mortal to experience life as both man and woman.