Middlesex: Analysis of Major Characters

Author: Jeffrey Kent Eugenides

First published: 2002

Genre: Novel

Locale: Bithynios, Greece; Smyrna, Greece; Berlin, Germany; Detroit, Michigan

Plot: Bildungsroman

Time: 1922 to the late twentieth century

Cal Stephanides, an intersex man born Calliope Helen Stephanides to a Greek American family. Raised in Detroit, Cal does not know of his condition until his teenage years, and during puberty, his lack of breast development and the absence of menstruation causes him great stress. He is a quiet person and slow to engage with others, a quality that becomes more pronounced in romantic relationships because of insecurity about his biology. He knows that his condition makes it impossible to have children and so decides to avoid marriage, joining the US State Department for employment and traveling the world. As he ages, however, he increasingly places value in his family and ancestors and begins to open to the possibility of finding conventional love.

Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides, Cal's grandfather. He grows up orphaned in a small town in Greece and secretly in love with his sister, Desdemona. He likes to dress in fancy clothes and, even in Greece, adapts Americanized styles and behaviors. His deep love for his sister helps inspire him to work hard and try to provide for her, although her insecurity about their incestuous relationship also sometimes drives him away emotionally. He finds a number of ways to make money, including opening an illegal speakeasy. His ambition to provide for his family as well as his lack of impulse control results in a gambling addiction that eventually bankrupts them.

Desdemona Stephanides, Cal's grandmother and a traditional Greek woman. She is a pale woman with dark eyes. Even after leaving Greece and settling in America, she clings to her Greek cultural heritage and remains fearful that others will discover the true nature of her relationship with her husband and brother. She is skilled with raising and harvesting silk cocoons. Despite feeling removed from American culture, she remains perceptive to some of the subtleties of class and race that play out in Detroit. When her husband dies, she falls into a deep depression from which she never returns.

Tessie Stephanides, Cal's gentle and beautiful mother. She is small in stature but attracts attention because of her considerable beauty. Although her father was not Greek, she adopts and continues the Greek traditions of the rest of the family. She is quiet and defers to her husband on most matters, preferring to place family above her personal needs. From a young age, she dreams of raising a daughter.

Miltiades “Milton” Stephanides, Cal's father. He plays the clarinet and falls in love with his second cousin Tessie. Although his large nose and skinny frame (among other qualities) make him physically undesirable, his persistence helps him to eventually win Tessie's love. After spending time in the navy, he becomes more serious and focused on business, qualities that eventually help him run a successful chain of hot dog restaurants. He aligns himself more with American culture than with Greek culture, unlike most of the other members of his family.

Obscure Object, a beautiful girl with red hair with whom Cal falls in love as a teenager. Although she is outgoing and popular, she is unhappy because of the lack of emotional support from her family. Her voice is strong and beautiful. In school, she and Cal develop mutual crushes on each other but are unable to acknowledge them, as Cal still lives as female and his true identity is unknown to either of them. When Cal initiates a sexual relationship, she enjoys the attention and affection, although she never acknowledges their connection, often pretending to sleep through their physical encounters.

Chapter Eleven Stephanides, Cal's hippie brother. Although he grows up with a highly logical mind, he eventually falls into the counterculture of the early 1970s, smoking marijuana and rejecting his family in favor of his Marxist friends. These experiences help him to accept his brother's gender transition with ease.

Jimmy Zizmo, who takes in Lefty and Desdemona when they first arrive to the United States. He is constantly involved in illegal activities. His conviction that his wife, Lina, must be cheating on him leads him to irrational, jealous behavior. He eventually fakes his death and falsely adopts the identity of a Muslim preacher.

Michael “Father Mike” Antoniou, Tessie's brother-in-law. He faces constant frustrations and failures in his personal and professional life, a course that leads him to become desperate as he ages. He serves in the Greek Orthodox Church and, although he is originally engaged to Tessie, marries her sister Zo instead.

Zo Antoniou, Tessie's outgoing sister who marries Father Mike. Her raucous personality makes her a poor fit for her husband's conservative profession, and she finds herself very unhappy in the marriage.

Dr. Peter Luce, a sexologist who lives in New York. While he has devoted his life to studying intersex people, he is less interested in their welfare than in his own career.

Sourmelina “Lina” Zizmo, Desdemona and Lefty's cousin. She does not love her husband, Jimmy, and only marries him under pressure when her romantic relationship with another woman is discovered.

Jerome, the Obscure Object's brother who has sex with Cal, loves monster movies, and is physically very similar to his sister.

Julie Kikuchi, a woman in Berlin who dates Cal and is accepting of his intersex condition.

Zora, a beautiful intersex woman who works with Cal in a strip club and is well-read in intersex history and medicine.

Marius Wyxzewixard Challouehliczilczese Grimes, an African American activist and street preacher in Detroit. He attends law school and befriends Cal when he is young.