The Thebaid (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Publius Papinius Statius
- First Published: 90
- Type of Work: Poetry
- Type of Plot: Epic
- Time of Work: Antiquity
- Setting: Argos, Nemea, and Thebes
- Genres: Poetry, Epic, Narrative poetry
- Subjects: War, Death or dying, Kings, queens, or royalty, Heroes or heroism, Greek or Roman times, Armies, Greece or Greek people
- Locales: Greece, Thebes, ancient, Argos, ancient, Nemea, ancient
Characters Discussed
Oedipus (EHD-ih-puhs), a king of Thebes. By the time the Thebaid opens, he has killed his father and married his mother, has blinded himself, and has been deposed. He does not appear often in the work, but he is important as a motivating force, for it is his curses on his ungrateful sons that set the action of the story in motion. Traditionally, Oedipus has been viewed as a kind of demigod, made more than human by the depths of his fall from glory and by his terrible suffering. The Thebaid follows the tradition, surrounding Oedipus with an...
[The entire page is 984 words long]
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