To avoid any misunderstandings according to this paper I have to mention that I will use the female name Calliope when I refer to text passages where the extraordinary sex of the protagonist’s is still unnoticed. Until then she had entirely grown up as a girl, although having a “male brain”. At the hospital they discover that she is a hermaphrodite, in her case a boy with a slightly hypospadiac penis. When she is fourteen Calliope has an accident. She does not have many friends, but admires one special girl a lot. She is born on January 8th in 1960 in Detroit and is raised as the second child and first daughter of Tessie and Milton Stephanides. Calliope Helen StephanidesĬalliope Helen Stephanides is the main character and also narrator of the novel.

In chapter five I will talk about the genealogical tree of the figures from Greek mythology we can find in the novel and compare it with the relationships of the family members in the novel. I add a map on page 19 so that it is easier to follow their way. The fourth chapter of my paper deals with the journey of Desdemona and Eleutherios. Then you can read about some of her family members and how they are connected to Greek mythology in chapter three. I will start with the main character of the novel, Calliope, and talk about the different elements that refer to her. I want to show that the author had a certain intention when he chose the names and the background of the characters.

In this paper I want to write about the different elements from Greek mythology that appear in Jeffrey Eugenides novel Middlesex and their connection to the characters and their lives.

Calliope middlesex