What is "tiresias"

In Greek mythology, Tiresias (; , Teiresias) was a blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. Tiresias participated fully in seven generations at Thebes, beginning as advisor to Cadmus himself.

Tiresias was a blind prophet in Greek mythology.

Tiresias may also refer to:

• Tiresias (ballet), by Constant Lambert
• Tiresias (horse)
• Tiresias (typeface)
• Teiresias algorithm
• Tirésias Simon Sam (1835–1916), President of Haiti
• Tom Driberg (1905–1976), pseudonymously Tiresias, British journalist, politician, and crossword compiler

Tiresias is a family of TrueType realist sans-serif typefaces that were designed for best legibility by people with impaired vision at the Scientific Research Unit of Royal National Institute of Blind People in London. The font was originally designed for the RNIB by Chris Sharville of Laker Sharville Design Associates who was working with John Gill at the time.

Tiresias is the font used in subtitles for digital terrestrial television ( DVB-T), and digital satellite ( DVB-S) targeting the UK. It is also used in Ireland, Denmark and Finland's national public-broadcasting company'. It was also purchased by the state owned TVNZ for use on their DVB terrestrial channels.

The family includes

• Tiresias Infofont – for information labels, optimized for maximum legibility at a distance of 30–100 cm.
• Tiresias Keyfont – for labeling the tops of keys of keyboards, PIN pads, appliances, remote controls (features exaggerated punctuation marks, no descender on the J)
• Tiresias LPfont – for large-print publications. A wedge-serif design.
• Tiresias PCfont – for raster displays
• Tiresias Screenfont – for television subtitling and on-screen user interfaces
• Tiresias Signfont – a more open spacing for use on signs

In late 2007, all Tiresias fonts except Tiresias Screenfont were released under the GNU General Public License version 3 or any later version.

The Tiresias Screenfont is expensive to license and was sold by Bitstream Inc., who in 2012 were acquired by Monotype Corporation. The acquiring company continues to market Tiresias on its font websites, and it also offers a similar font called Tioga.

Tiresias (1816–1837) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from April 1819 to July 1820 he ran thirteen times, all but two of them at Newmarket and won eleven races. Both of his defeats came when he was attempting to concede weight to opponents in match races. His most important win came in May 1819 when he won the Derby. Tiresias's racing career was ended by injury in the summer of 1820, after which he was retired to stud.

Tiresias is a ballet in a prelude and three acts choreographed by Frederick Ashton to an original score by Constant Lambert. With scenery and costumes designed by the composer's wife Isabel Lambert, it was first presented by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London, on 9 July 1951.