# Jocasta — Oedipus Rex character guide

> Jocasta in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Enter Jocasta

**First appearance:** 0001-dramatis-personae

## Snapshot

Thebes's queen, widow of Laius and wife of Oedipus, who steers her husband's investigation while quietly carrying the past he cannot see.

## Who they are

Jocasta stands at the center of Thebes's royal house — sister to Creon, mother of Oedipus's children, and the one person who remembers the city before the plague. When Oedipus's search for Laius's killer begins to circle too close, she offers comfort and skepticism, urging him to ignore prophets and oracles whose predictions, she insists, have failed before. Her composure and her buried history make her both the story's calmest voice and its most fragile fault line.

## Relationships

### [Laius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/laius)

_family_

Jocasta and Laius were married, and their relationship is defined by shared rule and the tragic prophecy concerning their son Oedipus.

### [Creon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/creon)

_family_

Creon is Jocasta's brother, and they share a bond of loyalty and concern for Thebes, though Creon often acts as a stabilizing force in her life.

### [Oedipus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/oedipus)

_family_

Jocasta is Oedipus's mother and later his unwitting wife, a relationship that becomes the central tragic irony of the play.

### [Apollo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/apollo)

_psychological_

Apollo's prophecy dominates Jocasta's fate, as she tries to defy his oracle but ultimately becomes a victim of its fulfillment.

### [Herdsman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/herdsman)

_professional_

The Herdsman was a servant in Jocasta's household, and his testimony shatters her denial of the prophecy involving her son.

### [Polybus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/polybus)

_social_

Jocasta and Polybus are connected through Oedipus's adoption, with Polybus being the king who raised Oedipus as his own son.

### [Herdsman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/herdsman)

_professional_

The Herdsman was a servant in Jocasta's household, and his testimony shatters her denial of the prophecy involving her son.

### [Creon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/creon)

_family_

Creon is Jocasta's brother, and they share a bond of loyalty and concern for Thebes, though Creon often acts as a stabilizing force in her life.

### [Oedipus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/oedipus)

_family_

Jocasta is Oedipus's mother and later his unwitting wife, a relationship that becomes the central tragic irony of the play.

### [Laius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/laius)

_family_

Jocasta and Laius were married, and their relationship is defined by shared rule and the tragic prophecy concerning their son Oedipus.

### [Apollo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/apollo)

_psychological_

Apollo's prophecy dominates Jocasta's fate, as she tries to defy his oracle but ultimately becomes a victim of its fulfillment.

### [Apollo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/apollo)

_psychological_

Apollo's prophecy dominates Jocasta's fate, as she tries to defy his oracle but ultimately becomes a victim of its fulfillment.

## In the story

### [Dramatis Personae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/chapters/dramatis-personae)

Listed as a character in the dramatis personae.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/jocasta
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters