Which blind seer does Odysseus consult in the Underworld?

Odysseus consults the blind seer Tiresias in the Underworld. Their meeting occurs in Book 11 of the Odyssey, often called the nekuia, or episode involving the summoning of the dead.

Circe instructs Odysseus to travel to Hades so he can seek Tiresias’s guidance about returning home. At the edge of the Underworld, Odysseus performs a ritual involving libations and the sacrifice of sheep. The blood allows the shades to speak, and Tiresias appears after Odysseus’s dead companion Elpenor and his mother, Anticlea.

Tiresias warns Odysseus about Poseidon’s anger after the blinding of the Cyclops Polyphemus. He also tells him that the crew must not harm the cattle of Helios, a warning that later becomes crucial. The seer predicts that Odysseus will eventually reach Ithaca, though his journey will remain difficult.

Calchas is another famous Greek prophet, but he belongs chiefly to the Trojan War tradition. Melampus and Amphiaraus are also legendary seers, yet neither is the prophet Odysseus meets in the Underworld.