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@mythology ...when he was older, the fall causing his disability.

"Then with a sponge he wiped clean his forehead, and both hands, and his massive neck and hairy chest, and put on a tunic, and took up a heavy stick in his hand, and went to the doorway limping."
Iliad

Among his epithets we find amphigyeeis ("lame on both sides") and kyllopodiôn ("clubfooted"). The toxic materials handled by ancient smiths can cause lameness through arsenical neuritis, maybe reflected in Hephaistos' disability.

@mythology The #Graiai are three goddesses the hero #Perseus encounters on his quest to slay Medusa. In the version recorded in the Library of Pseudo-Apollodoros, Perseus asks them for the way to the dwelling of the Hesperides, the nymphs that would equip him with a knapsack, winged sandals, and he helmet of Hades that makes the wearer invisible. The Graiai share one eye and one tooth among them. Perseus snatches the eye and tooth, giving them back in exchange for directions.

@mythology Teiresias was a blind seer who often appears as a counsellor to other mythological characters like King Kadmos of Thebes. Teiresias spent several years of his life transformed into the opposite of his sex at birth.

"Thus, when Hera and Zeus were arguing as to whether men or women enjoy sex more, they put the question to Teiresias. He said that on a scale of ten, women enjoy it nine times to men's one. Whereupon Hera blinded him, and Zeus gave him the power of prophecy."

@mythology Phineus is a blind king in Greek mythology. The reasons for his blindness are quite diverse, ranging from hybris to arranging the death of his own sons. A scholia on the Odyssey notes that when Zeus asked Phineus if he preferred to die or lose sight as punishment for having his sons killed by their stepmother, Phineus chose life, offending Helios. In another version Helios blinds Phineus himself to help his son Aeëtes. But the best known version is told in the Argonautica:

@mythology "Phoibos [#Apollon] had once endowed this man [King Phineus] with prophetic powers but the gift had brought on him the most appalling tribulations. For he showed no reverence even for Zeus, whose sacred purposes he did not scruple to disclose in full to all. #Zeus punished him for this by giving him a lingering old age, without the boon of sight."
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2. 179

Phineus was also haunted by the "Hounds of Zeus", the harpies.

@mythology #Mythology

@mythology In Orion's case, #Helios is the one to restore his eyesight instead of blinding him. The original pissbaby, #Orion was born from Zeus, Poseidon & Hermes urinating on a cowhide that they buried in the earth. He was blinded for raping Merope, the daughter of King Oinopion of Chios:

"Orion took Kedalion upon his shoulders and used to carry him about while he pointed out the roads. Then he came to the east and appears to have met Helios and to have been healed."
Hesiod, Astronomy Frag. 4

@mythology #Oedipus is best known for killing his father and marrying his mother. Oedipus' father Laius consulted the Oracle of Delphi because he and his wife Jocasta were childless. The Pythia, Apollon's priestess, prophecised that any son of Laius would kill him. When the couple indeed conceived a son, Laius had the baby boy's ankles pierced and bound so he couldn't crawl and Jocasta gave him to a servant for exposure to avoid the prophecy's dire fate:

Chaudet, 1801

@mythology
"As for the boy, 3 days after he was born, the king had his ankles pinned and then handed him to someone to take him to some forest where no human ever went."
Jocasta in Oedipus the King

Little Oedipus was taken by a shepherd who brought him to the childless king and queen of Corinth who adopted him and named him Oedipus ("swollen foot") after the injuries to his feet and ankles. After learning that he had killed his biological father and married his mother, Oedipus blinds himself.

@mythology If you enjoyed this thread, you can find it as an article on my website, including sources. Do check out the @phistorians's special episode on disability in ancient Greece and toss a coin to us indie creators if you're so inclined

Disability in ancient Greece
https://partialhistorians.com/2021/04/08/special-episode-disability-in-ancient-greece?utm_source=mastodon

Disability in Greek Mythology
https://eroticmythology.com/disability-in-greek-mythology?utm_source=mastodon

@AimeeMaroux @mythology a great thread and a topic that definitely deserves attention. Thanks for the shout out as well!

@phistorians @mythology Thank you! The episode inspired me to write about the mythological characters because to me all these disabilities seem like something people in real life were be born with or acquired as well. Except for Teiresias. Spiting Hera is, hopefully, not a common cause of blindness