Oedipus Rex

Oedipus: He is the king of Thebes and Oedipus at Colonus. He is known for his extra- ordinary intelligence and riddle solving, he was made the king of Thebes as he solved the riddle of the supernatural being that had held the city in the form of a plague. He killed his own father the king of Thebes Laius. He married his own mother Jocasta. He was blind regarding the truth and about himself and his origin. His name means "swollen foot" he was thrown away from his father's house when he was a bay with feet bound together. When he came to know the truth about himself he risked his kingdom and made himself blind by stabbing his own eyes. He demanded to b exciled.

Laius: He is the king of Thebes and father of Oedipus who was killed by his own son. He was informed that his own son will kill him and marry his wife, he asked his troops to take the son and kill him. Eventually they did not and left the boy to die with hunger and to b killed by animals.

Jucasta: She is the wife and mother of Oedipus, queen of Thebes. Before marrying to Oedipus she was married to Laius who was the king and father of Thebes. Jucasta appears in the final scenes of the play. She committed suicide in the end, may be with the guilt that she left Oedipus to die as a baby, thus leading to tragic end of the story. Jucasta is the mother of Oedipus children aswell.

Teiresias: He is a blind prophet led by a small boy he knows the truth about Oedipus origin. When Oedipus calls him to find out about the truth of Liasus murder he became ferocious to hear that Liaus was killed by him. Teiresias is often characterized as half man and half woman in classical literature.

Creon: Creon is Jucasta's brother and Oedipus 's brother-in-law remains loyal and a good friend of Oedipus. Shares one-third of Thebes wealth with Jucasta and Oedipus. He is a devoted follower of the Oracle of Apollo. He remained kind and forgiving to Oedipus throughout the play.

Messenger from Corinith: The messenger of Cornith comes to Oedipus and tells that his father Polybus has died. He further revealed that Polybus and Merope are not his real parents, a stranger from Thebes gift him to them as a baby.

Herdsman: He is the person who gave Laius and Jucast's son to the messenger and is also the eye witness of Laius's murder. He reveals that the baby he gave to the messenger was Liaus's and Jucasta's son.

Second messenger: He is the servant of Jucasta and Oedipus and he is the one who informed Oedipus and Chorus about the suicide of Jucasta.

Ismene and Antigone: They both are Oedipus young daughters.

The Chorus: The Chorus reacts to the events as they occur generally in a predictable way. The Chorus's reaction can be the lessons in how the audience should interpret what it is seeing,