Guide Mentor

Character Role Analysis

Thersites

We know what you're probably thinking, and, yeah. Dude is totally vile and says the nastiest things about everyone in the play. Well, we don't like it any more than you do, but the fact is that Thersites' main function in the play is to offer bitter and cynical commentary on everything from the cause of the Trojan War to the people who participate in it.

Sound familiar? It should because the entire play is all about...offering bitter and cynical commentary on everything from the cause of the Trojan War to the people who participate in it. In other words, Thersites gives voice to the play's bad attitude, so we can't help but pay attention to him, even if we don't like it.