The Magus characters

Appears from the start

A young Englishman educated at Oxford who regards himself as detached and sophisticated but repeatedly avoids emotional responsibility. Dissatisfied with teaching in England and unwilling to commit to Alison, he accepts a post on the Greek island of Phraxos. His curiosity and appetite for mystery make him receptive to the elaborate experiences awaiting him there.

Appears from the start

A young Australian woman working in London as an airline stewardess when she begins a relationship with Nicholas. Direct and emotionally candid, she wants a mutual commitment that he is reluctant to offer. Their bond continues to matter after he leaves for Greece, despite his attempts to treat distance as an escape from obligation.

First appears in chapter 5

A former teacher at the Lord Byron School whose guarded comments alert Nicholas to the secluded estate called Bourani and its wealthy owner. His reluctance to give a straightforward account makes the place more attractive to Nicholas rather than less.

First appears in chapter 8

A fellow teacher at the school on Phraxos. Sociable and more at ease with the island routine than Nicholas, he offers companionship but remains outside the private world Nicholas begins entering at Bourani.

First appears in chapter 15

The wealthy, cultivated owner of Bourani, a remote estate on Phraxos. He welcomes Nicholas with food, music, art, and stories from his long life, while refusing to define where hospitality ends and performance begins. His authority over the estate and his evident knowledge of Nicholas make him a compelling but unsettling host.

First appears in chapter 15

Conchis's Greek housekeeper at Bourani. Her practical presence helps sustain the ordinary domestic surface of an estate where Nicholas increasingly encounters events that resist ordinary explanation.

First appears in chapter 25

A beautiful young Englishwoman who appears at Bourani in connection with Conchis's account of a woman he knew before the First World War. Her resemblance to the figure in his story and her alternation between distance and intimacy make Nicholas unsure whether he is meeting a guest, an actress, or something supernatural.

First appears in chapter 50

A Black American man who appears within the performances surrounding Bourani. His shifting presentation contributes to Nicholas's growing awareness that the people he meets may be playing assigned roles rather than disclosing their own identities.

First appears in chapter 50

A second young woman whose close resemblance to Lily introduces the possibility of twins and gives the Bourani performances another layer. Nicholas cannot determine whether the explanations attached to either woman are truthful or simply revisions of the same production.

First appears in chapter 58

A young Greek man who figures in Conchis's account of the island during the German occupation. His connection to resistance activity places Conchis's claims about freedom and moral choice in a setting where decisions have irreversible consequences.

First appears in chapter 72

An older woman connected to Conchis and to the young women Nicholas knew through the Bourani masque. When Nicholas reaches her late in his search for an explanation, she possesses information about the production but does not reduce it to the simple confession he wants.