Oedipus Rex: characteristics of the protagonist

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Start a new lesson from a TEACHER where we meet the characters of King Oedipus and their characteristics, since this is one of the works of the Greek theater that have survived to this day in good condition. Its author is Sophocles, one of the fathers of this type of classical literature that embodied this dramatic style along with other names, such as Aeschylus or Euripides.

The relevance of this writing is enormous, and it is still worth studying today. In fact, even Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, he used it for his studies a century ago now. So get ready, as we go back 2,500 years and go to the dawn of classical civilization to discover one of his most important works, King Oedipus, whose history has even given rise to a psychological disorder.

Index

1. The main character of Oedipus Rex
2. Main characters of Oedipus Rex and their characteristics
3. Secondary characters of Oedipus Rex and their characteristics
4. Other characters in Oedipus Rex and their characteristics

To know the character of Oedipus Rex in a deep way, we must first analyze the protagonist of the work, son of Laius and Jocasta, husband of the latter and king of Thebes.

Oedipus is a victim of his fate, since he knows from the oracle that he is to kill his father and marry his mother. As much as he flees Corinth to prevent such a prophecy from being fulfilled, he does not know that he actually lived there with his adoptive parents.

Oedipus is a brave man, he is honest and he is a just king. He carefully protects both his people and his family. But no matter how hard he tries, he cannot escape his tragic fate and clearly unjust.

The story of Oedipus is told in a cultured language, symbolizing universal emotions, such as anger, rage, love or pain. All of them are at some point in the central character of the story.

In this other lesson we will discover a summary of Oedipus Rex's argument.

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But next to the monarch there is another group of main characters in King Oedipus, and we already know the characteristics of it:

• Jocasta: she is the queen of Thebes, and at the same time the wife of Laius, who dies at the hands of Oedipus, her second husband and her son. The regent is the one who feels special guilt and suffers for her offspring, who is also her husband. Finally, the pain is so high that she opts for a somewhat cowardly way out, that of suicide upon learning of her incestuous situation.
• Laius: It is the king of Thebes who dies at the hands of his son, Oedipus, as the oracle announces, and as much as he tries to fight against his destiny by abandoning the child with a few days, he cannot escape. Ultimately, it is this totally heinous act that ends his life.

Here you will find the characteristics of all the characters of Oedipus Rex so that you know them in depth.

Let's now look at the secondary characters of Oedipus Rex, since they also have a lot of weight in the future of the story:

• Tiresias: he is an old blind seer from Thebes who reveals the tragic truth to his king, Oedipus. Despite not seeing, his powers of observation and reasoning are excellent. Furthermore, he manages to draw out the anger and doubt in the monarch when he confesses the truth to him.
• Creon: he is the brother of Jocasta, the queen, and aspiring to the throne. In general, he behaves well and evenly, although he yearns to reign, and finally succeeds when the tragedy of Oedipus is revealed.
• The chorus: in Greek tragedy, the chorus forms a basic secondary character, since he represents the people, in this case, the Theban. He blindly believes in the oracle, despises whoever challenges him and is symbolized experience and consciousness.

In addition to those already seen, we find other important characters in the work, although more secondary:

• Merope and Polibo: kings of Corinth who cannot have children and adopt Oedipus as their own, although he does not know that he is adopted until it is too late.
• Sphinx: It is a fabulous monster with a female head and chest, lion claws, a dog body, a dragon's tail and avian wings. He kills road travelers who don't get his riddle right until Oedipus solves it, so he kills himself.
• Children of Oedipus: Oedipus and Jocasta have two sons and two daughters, who are Eteocletes, Antígona, Ismene and Polinice. It will be the girls who accompany their father to the end.

In addition, other characters appear, such as the respectful Priest of Zeus, the messenger who gives the news to Oedipus of the death of his adoptive father, or the servants of Laius.

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