𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐎

Author

Μαντώ

About

Parent	Tiresias
Spouse	Alcmaeon, Rhacius, Tiberinus
Children	Amphilochus, Tisiphone, Mopsus, Ocnus

In Greek mythology, Manto (Ancient Greek: Μαντώ) was the daughter of the prophet Tiresias, a Theban oracle who, according to tradition, was changed into a woman after striking a pair of copulating snakes with a rod, and was thereafter a priestess of Hera.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

During the War of the Epigoni, a later myth relates, Manto was brought to Delphi as a war prize. Apollo made her his priestess and sent her to Colophon to found an oracle devoted to him. She had a son named Mopsus by Apollo, although by some s, the father of Mopsus is Rhacius, whom Manto later married. According to the Bibliotheca, she had two children by Alcmaeon, Amphilochus and Tisiphone.

Veiled head of Manto (left) and a Thessalian horse rider inscribed on a 3rd-2nd century coin (right)

In an early version, Apollo instructed her to marry the first man she saw outside of Delphi (who turned out to be Rhacius). Rhacius then took her to Claros (which, like Colophon, is in western Asia Minor) and there she founded the oracle of Apollo Clarios. When she arrived, Manto wept bitter tears for her ravaged city. As they fell in the ground, the tears transformed into a spring.

ROMAN MYTHOLOGY

In Roman mythology, Manto went to Italy where she married Tiberinus, the god of the Tiber River. Their son was Ocnus, who founded Mantua and named it after his mother.

Manto appears in the myth of Niobe, the queen of ancient Thebes, who had warned her to stop mocking Leto because it would anger the gods. Niobe ignored her and continued mocking Leto, resulting in harsh punishment from her children, Apollo and Artemis. Manto also appears in Seneca's tragedy Oedipus as an assistant to her father, Tiresias. There, she describes to the protagonist a sacrifice carried out by her father.