Parallels to Teiresias in Home Fire

Who Is the Blind Prophet?

In Antigone, the blind prophet was a supporting character introduced in the second act. With Teiresias's words and advice, he convinced Creon of his wrongdoings, although it at that point was too late. In Home Fire, every main character has an Antigone equivalent. However, Teiresias is more of a side character, leading me to believe that he doesn't have any direct equivalent. Rather, some of the important parts of him are incorporated into one character.

Terry

The first character who contains some of Tieresias's qualities is Terry. Similar to Shamsie's other characters, they share similar names (Theresa and Teiresias), and both are willing to stand up to Creon/Karamat when they believe him to be wrong. Creon/Karamat are both dismissive of the Teiresias/Terry intially, but they eventually realize their mistakes. Interestingly, Terry has aspects of both Teiresias and Eurydice (the wife who disapproved of Creon's actions, leading to him ultimately losing her). Like Teiresias, Terry is a supporting character, which is why she does not have a direct parallel but is instead the summation of multiple characters.

This parallel is far from as clean as those of the main characters. The blindness, being led by the younger boy, and wisdom of age are all elements of Teiresias not seen in Terry. In addition, Creon completely trusts Teiresias, whereas Karamat sees little value in Terry's political opinions. This could be the sexism in Karamat (a trait inherited from Creon), or it could be similar to how Creon dismisses Teiresias's opinions when they contradict his own. Either way, the relationship between Teiresias and Terry is not as strong as those of the main characters, but there are a few notable parallels between the two characters.