Index of Important Characters - Classical Literature

Here is a list of some of the important characters appearing in classical literature (particularly those who appear in several different works) and the plays and poems in which they appear.

In general, I have not included the gods (e.g. Zeus, Apollo, Hera, Poseidon, etc) who appear in many works, usually in relatively minor roles, except where they are used as major characters in a work (e.g. Dionysus, Prometheus, etc). Neither have I included the more minor characters. The search facility can be used to narrow down appearances of other characters not listed here.

Also, you can move your mouse over the character’s name (the brighter green links) to see some very quick information on that figure in mythology.

Achilles	Homer: “The Iliad” Euripides: “Iphigenia at Aulis” Ovid: “Heroides” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Aegeus	Euripides: “Medea” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Aegisthus	Homer: “The Odyssey” Aeschylus: “Agamemnon” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Aeschylus: “The Libation Bearers” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Sophocles: “Electra” Euripides: “Electra” Seneca the Younger: “Agamemnon”
Aeneas	Ovid: “The Aeneid” Ovid: “Heroides” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Agamemnon	Homer: “The Iliad” Aeschylus: “Agamemnon” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Sophocles: “Ajax” Euripides: “Hecuba” Euripides: “Iphigenia at Aulis” Ovid: “Metamorphoses” Seneca the Younger: “Agamemnon” Seneca the Younger: “Troades” Seneca the Younger: “Thyestes”
Ajax	Homer: “The Iliad” Sophocles: “Ajax”
Alcestis	Euripides: “Alcestis”
Amphitryon	Euripides: “Heracles” Seneca the Younger: “Hercules Furens”
Andromache	Homer: “The Iliad” Euripides: “Andromache” Euripides: “The Trojan Women” Seneca the Younger: “Troades”
Antigone	Aeschylus: “Seven Against Thebes” Sophocles: “Antigone” Sophocles: “Oedipus at Colonus” Euripides: “The Phoenician Women” Seneca the Younger: “Phoenissae”
Atreus	Seneca the Younger: “Thyestes”
Bacchus (also known as Dionysus)	Hesiod: “Theogony” Euripides: “The Bacchae” Aristophanes: “The Frogs”
Beowulf	Anonymous: “Beowulf”
Cassandra	Aeschylus: “Agamemnon” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Euripides: “The Trojan Women” Seneca the Younger: “Agamemnon”
Circe	Homer: “The Odyssey” Apollonius of Rhodes: “The Argonautica”
Clytemnestra	Homer: “The Odyssey” Hesiod: “Theogony” Aeschylus: “Agamemnon” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Aeschylus: “The Libation Bearers” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Sophocles: “Electra” Euripides: “Electra” Seneca the Younger: “Agamemnon”
Creon of Corinth	Euripides: “Medea” Seneca the Younger: “Medea”
Creon of Thebes	Sophocles: “Antigone” Sophocles: “Oedipus the King” Sophocles: “Oedipus at Colonus” Euripides: “The Phoenician Women” Seneca the Younger: “Oedipus”
Danaus	Aeschylus: “The Suppliants”
Deianeira	Sophocles: “The Trachiniae” Ovid: “Heroides” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Demophon	Euripides: “Heracleidae”
Dido	Vergil: “The Aeneid” Ovid: “Heroides” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Dionysus (also known as Bacchus)	Hesiod: “Theogony” Euripides: “The Bacchae” Aristophanes: “The Frogs”
Electra	Aeschylus: “The Libation Bearers” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Sophocles: “Electra” Euripides: “Electra” Euripides: “Orestes” Seneca the Younger: “Agamemnon”
Enkidu	Anonymous: “Gilgamesh”
Erinyes (Furies)	Hesiod: “Theogony” Aeschylus: “The Libation Bearers” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Aeschylus: “The Eumenides” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Euripides: “Orestes”
Eteocles	Aeschylus: “Seven Against Thebes” Euripides: “The Phoenician Women” Seneca the Younger: “Phoenissae”
Gilgamesh	Anonymous: “Gilgamesh”
Glauce	Euripides: “Medea” Ovid: “Metamorphoses” Seneca the Younger: “Medea”
Grendel	Anonymous: “Beowulf”
Hector	Homer: “The Iliad”
Hecuba	Euripides: “Hecuba” Euripides: “The Trojan Women” Ovid: “Metamorphoses” Seneca the Younger: “Troades”
Helen	Homer: “The Iliad” Homer: “The Odyssey” Hesiod: “Theogony” Euripides: “The Trojan Women” Euripides: “Helen” Ovid: “Heroides” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Heracles/Hercules	Hesiod: “Theogony” Sophocles: “The Trachiniae” Sophocles: “Philoctetes” Euripides: “Alcestis” Euripides: “Heracleidae” Euripides: “Heracles” Aristophanes: “The Birds” Aristophanes: “The Frogs” Apollonius of Rhodes: “The Argonautica” Ovid: “Heroides” Ovid: “Metamorphoses” Seneca the Younger: “Hercules Furens”
Hermione	Euripides: “Andromache” Euripides: “Orestes” Ovid: “Heroides”
Hippolytus	Euripides: “Hippolytus” Ovid: “Heroides” Seneca the Younger: “Phaedra”
Ion	Euripides: “Ion”
Iphigenia	Euripides: “Iphigenia at Aulis” Euripides: “Iphigenia in Tauris”
Ismene	Sophocles: “Antigone” Sophocles: “Oedipus at Colonus”
Jason	Euripides: “Medea” Apollonius of Rhodes: “The Argonautica” Ovid: “Heroides” Ovid: “Metamorphoses” Seneca the Younger: “Medea”
Jocasta	Sophocles: “Oedipus the King” Euripides: “The Phoenician Women” Seneca the Younger: “Oedipus” Seneca the Younger: “Phoenissae”
Medea	Euripides: “Medea” Apollonius of Rhodes: “The Argonautica” Ovid: “Heroides” Ovid: “Metamorphoses” Seneca the Younger: “Medea”
Megara	Euripides: “Heracles” Seneca the Younger: “Hercules Furens”
Menelaus	Homer: “The Iliad” Homer: “The Odyssey” Sophocles: “Ajax” Euripides: “Andromache” Euripides: “The Trojan Women” Euripides: “Helen” Euripides: “Orestes” Euripides: “Iphigenia at Aulis” Ovid: “Metamorphoses” Seneca the Younger: “Thyestes”
Neoptolemus	Sophocles: “Philoctetes” Euripides: “Andromache”
Odysseus/Ulysses	Homer: “The Iliad” Homer: “The Odyssey” Sophocles: “Ajax” Sophocles: “Philoctetes” Euripides: “Hecuba” Euripides: “Cyclops” Vergil: “The Aeneid” Ovid: “Heroides” Seneca the Younger: “Troades”
Oedipus	Sophocles: “Oedipus the King” Sophocles: “Oedipus at Colonus” Euripides: “The Phoenician Women” Seneca the Younger: “Phoenissae” Seneca the Younger: “Oedipus”
Orestes	Aeschylus: “The Libation Bearers” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Aeschylus: “The Eumenides” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Sophocles: “Electra” Euripides: “Andromache” Euripides: “Electra” Euripides: “Iphigenia in Tauris” Euripides: “Orestes” Ovid: “Heroides” Seneca the Younger: “Agamemnon”
Paris	Homer: “The Iliad” Ovid: “Heroides” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Peleus	Euripides: “Andromache” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Penelope	Homer: “The Odyssey” Ovid: “Heroides”
Perseus	Hesiod: “Theogony” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Phaedra	Euripides: “Hippolytus” Ovid: “Heroides” Seneca the Younger: “Phaedra”
Philoctetes	Sophocles: “Philoctetes”
Polymestor	Euripides: “Hecuba” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Polynices	Aeschylus: “Seven Against Thebes” Sophocles: “Oedipus at Colonus” Euripides: “The Phoenician Women” Seneca the Younger: “Phoenissae”
Polyphemus	Homer: “The Odyssey” Euripides: “Cyclops”
Polyxena	Euripides: “Hecuba” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Priam	Homer: “The Iliad” Ovid: “Metamorphoses”
Prometheus	Hesiod: “Works and Days” Hesiod: “Theogony” Aeschylus: “Prometheus Bound” Aristophanes: “The Birds”
Pylades	Aeschylus: “The Libation Bearers” (“Oresteia Trilogy”) Sophocles: “Electra” Euripides: “Electra” Euripides: “Iphigenia in Tauris” Euripides: “Orestes”
Semele	Hesiod: “Theogony” Euripides: “The Bacchee”
Telemachus	Homer: “The Odyssey”
Theseus	Hesiod: “Theogony” Sophocles: “Oedipus at Colonus” Euripides: “Hippolytus” Euripides: “The Suppliants” Euripides: “Heracles” Ovid: “Heroides” Ovid: “Metamorphoses” Seneca the Younger: “Hercules Furens” Seneca the Younger: “Phaedra”
Thyestes	Seneca the Younger: “Thyestes”
Tiresias	Homer: “The Odyssey” Sophocles: “Antigone” Sophocles: “Oedipus the King” Euripides: “The Phoenician Women” Ovid: “Metamorphoses” Seneca the Younger: “Oedipus”
Xerxes	Aeschylus: “The Persians”

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