Oedipus Rex & Antigone characters

Appears from the start

The king of Thebes, celebrated for once saving the city by solving the Sphinx's riddle. When a plague strikes, he promises to identify and punish the unknown killer of the previous king, Laius. Intelligent, forceful, and certain that persistent inquiry can master the crisis, he makes the investigation a public test of his rule.

Appears from the start

Queen of Thebes, widow of Laius, and wife of Oedipus. She tries to calm the conflict between Oedipus and Creon and reassures Oedipus by explaining why she no longer trusts prophecies.

Appears from the start

Jocasta's brother and a prominent Theban noble. He carries the oracle's command back from Delphi and becomes a target of Oedipus's suspicion during the murder investigation, though he answers the accusation with measured arguments about his secure position in the state.

Appears from the start

The blind prophet of Thebes. Summoned by Oedipus to identify Laius's killer, he initially refuses to speak because he knows the truth will bring suffering, then gives an accusation that the king cannot accept.

Appears from the start

A senior religious representative who leads Theban suppliants to Oedipus during the plague and asks the king who once defeated the Sphinx to save the city again.

Appears from the start

An old man from Corinth who arrives believing he carries welcome news about King Polybus. His knowledge of how the infant Oedipus entered the Corinthian royal household instead becomes a crucial part of the inquiry into Oedipus's origins.

Appears from the start

A former servant of Laius and the surviving witness to the king's death. He has withdrawn to the countryside but is summoned because he also knows what happened to the royal family's infant son.

Appears from the start

The representative voice of the Theban elders during the plague and the investigation of Laius's death. He responds to each new claim, counsels restraint, and reflects the city's changing understanding of its king.

Appears from the start

A young daughter of Oedipus who is brought before her blinded father after the truth about the royal house has been exposed. Oedipus grieves over the vulnerable future that awaits her and her sister.

Appears from the start

Antigone's sister and another daughter of Oedipus, brought to him after the truth about the royal house has been exposed. She shares the family's vulnerable position after Oedipus's fall.

First appears in chapter 2

Creon's son and Antigone's intended husband. He begins his appeal to his father respectfully, then argues that Theban sympathy for Antigone and ordinary good judgment both favor reconsidering her sentence.

First appears in chapter 2

A sentry ordered to watch the exposed body of Polynices. Anxious about Creon's temper, he reports first that someone has scattered burial dust over the corpse and later that the guards have caught Antigone performing the rites.

First appears in chapter 2

Creon's wife and Haemon's mother. She emerges from the palace near the close of the conflict to hear a messenger's report about what has happened to her son.

First appears in chapter 2

A palace messenger in the second play who reports the consequences of Creon's attempt to reverse his decree, including the discoveries made at Antigone's tomb.