Chariclo
Χαρικλώ
The nymph who cried out to Athena for her blinded son Tiresias.
Callimachus sings that she was the companion Athena cherished most among the nymphs.
When her son Tiresias accidentally saw Athena bathing in a spring and was struck blind, Chariclo wailed at the goddess.
Athena's answer was this: the eyes cannot be restored. Instead she would give him ears that understand the speech of birds, a staff, and a prophetic mind he would keep even in death.
The powers of Greece's most famous seer were compensation won by a mother's wailing.
SourcesCallimachus, The Bath of Pallas
Commonly confused
Not to be confused with Chariclo the wife of the centaur Chiron — a different figure who merely shares the name.