Major and Minor Characters

Oedipus  King of Thebes when the play begins.  He became king after outsmarting the Sphinx that had been terrorizing the city. This characterizes Oedipus as intelligent and clever.  The people of Thebes come to Oedipus to ask for him to dispel the plague that is now gripping the city.

 Oedipus is seen as a great man by the people of Thebes. They respect and trust him as king.  The Priest refers to him as the “first of men” and “Oedipus great and glorious” (26).  Oedipus is also a caring ruler, which is shown in the way he addresses his subjects as “my children” (27).  His wisdom is again shown by his decision to send Creon to the house of Apollo to seek guidance from the gods.

 When he finds out how to rid the city of the plague he accepts the challenge eagerly, showing his desire to do the right thing for his people, as well as his commitment to justice. Oedipus is determined to catch the killer of the former king, Laius, and says “there is nothing I will not do” (29).  However, he gives the guilty party a chance to come forward and confess their crime. He promises if they confess they will only be banished and no harm will come to them. This again paints Oedipus in a favourable light, showing him as reasonable and capable of leniency.

 We begin to see a negative side to Oedipus when Teiresias is reluctant to tell him what he wants to know. Oedipus persistently questions Teiresias until he refuses to say anything. Oedipus demands that he tell them all he knows. Oedipus’ determination is about to start causing him problems.  We also begin to see Oedipus’ confidence as arrogance, when he reminds everyone that he was the only one smart enough to defeat the sphinx.  Oedipus is also characterized as impulsive or fickle as well by how quickly his opinions of Teiresias and Creon change.

 Oedipus also jumps to conclusions, as he has no proof to support his accusations against Creon and Teiresias.  Oedipus’ stubbornness becomes very obvious in his argument with Creon, when he refuses to believe his brother-in-law, despite Creon’s logical defense (42-44).  We see more of his stubborn nature when Jocasta urges Oedipus to “Think no more of it” when they are discussing the prophecy (52). Oedipus doesn’t listen, and continues to search for the truth. Jocasta later begs Oedipus to stop his inquiry, but he refuses to listen.

 We see more of Oedipus’ obstinacy in his treatment of the shepherd, who he threatens with death if he will not speak.  Finally Oedipus gets what he thought he wanted, the truth, and he can’t handle it.  He realizes the consequencesof his actions and immediately feels extreme guilt and shame, despite the fact that he committed them unintentionally. This generally causes the audience to feel some level of sympathy towards him.  This sympathy is increased when we learn that his wife/mother killed herself because of what he had done.

Jocasta  Wife of Oedipus, but also his mother.  When the play begins, she no longer believes in the prophecies of seers. She tries to convince Oedipus not to worry about what Tiresias says.  As more evidence points toward the probability that Oedipus has in fact fulfilled a terrible prophecy, she begs him not to dig any further into his past. He will not be persuaded.  Realizing that her son killed her first husband, that she is now married to her son, and that Oedipus is about to bring all of this to light, Jocasta takes her own life.

 To develop conflict (introduce, develop, resolve)  To establish theme  To create motif (guilt, self-punishment)  To provide exposition  To aid in plot development

Creon  Brother of Jocasta, and thus uncle/brother- in-law to Oedipus.  Creon is offended and alarmed when Oedipus accuses him of treason, but he speaks calmly and tries to show the error of the accusation by appealing to Oedipus' sense of reason.  At the end of the play, however, he is more than willing to step into the role of king after Oedipus' terrible fate has been revealed. Even then, however, he cautiously makes sure to follow the will of the gods, rather than to trying to resist fate as Oedipus has done.

 To provide exposition  To develop plot  To incite conflict  To reveal character  To provide contrast  To develop theme

Teiresias  The blind prophet or seer.  He knows that the terrible prophecy of Oedipus has already come true, but doesn't want to say what he knows.  Only when Oedipus accuses him of treachery does Teiresias suggest that Oedipus himself is guilty of the murder of King Laius.  He leaves Oedipus with a riddle which is plainly understood by the audience, that Oedipus has killed his father and married his mother.

 To develop theme  To create conflict  To provide exposition  To create irony  To establish motif  To provide juxtaposition

The Chorus  In this play, the chorus represents the elder citizens of Thebes, reacting to the events of the play. The chorus speaks as one voice, or sometimes through the voice of its leader. It praises, damns, cowers in fear, asks or offers advice, and generally helps the audience interpret the play.

 To provide exposition  To give characterization  To develop mood

A Priest  At the beginning of the play he comes to the royal house to tell Oedipus of the city's suffering. On behalf of the townspeople, he asks Oedipus to save Thebes once more.  He is the first character to mention how Oedipus previously defeated the Sphinx, and details the plague now affecting the city.

 To provide exposition  To help develop the plot  To reveal character  To introduce conflict

A Messenger (from Corinth)  The messenger brings news to Thebes that Polybus, King of Corinth and Oedipus’ “father” has died of natural causes. Oedipus is now to be crowned king of Corinth.  The messenger from Corinth informs Oedipus that King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth were not his actual parents.  The messenger himself gave Oedipus as a baby to the Corinthian king and queen. He got the baby from a Theban shepherd whom he met in the woods. Oedipus' ankles were pinned together at the time—in Greek, the name "Oedipus" means "swollen ankles."

 To help with plot development  To incite, develop, and help resolve conflict  To provide exposition

 A Shepherd (from Thebes)  A former servant of King Laius. He was given baby Oedipus and asked to dispose of him, in order to avoid the prophecy Laius and Jocasta had received.  He took pity on the baby Oedipus and spared his life. He gives the baby to another shepherd from Corinth, who gives it to his king and queen, Polybus and Merope. This Corinthian shepherd later becomes a messenger; the same messenger who brings Oedipus the news of Polybus’ death.  The shepherd was also an eyewitness to the death of King Laius. When Oedipus commands the shepherd to tell him what he knows about Oedipus' origins, the shepherd refuses, and only complies under punishment of death.

 To help with plot development  To provide exposition  To help with characterization  To assist in conflict resolution

Attendant  The attendant makes only one appearance in the play.  He enters, tells the chorus and the audience that the queen, Jocasta, has hung herself.  He also describes Oedipus’ reaction to finding his dead wife/mother.

 To create mood  To provide exposition  To show conflict that occurs offstage