Numa Character Analysis: The Prisoner Who Became Medea

Overview

Numa is an Athenian prisoner of war held in the Syracusan quarry after the failed Sicilian Expedition. He is introduced as a terrified, emaciated man hiding in tunnels to avoid execution. Despite his physical ruin, Numa possesses astonishing theatrical talent. He auditions for the role of Medea in Lampo and Gelon’s makeshift production, delivering a performance so powerful that it blurs the line between actor and character. Numa ultimately plays both Medea and Hecuba in the combined Medea/Trojan Women performance. His fate is sealed when Syracusan men, led by the vengeful Biton, storm the stage and club him to death during the finale. Numa’s arc—from anonymous captive to unforgettable performer to murdered sacrifice—anchors the novel’s exploration of theatre as survival and the destructive collision between art and violence.

Plot Role and Chronological Arc

Numa first appears in chapter 4 of the outline, when Lampo and Paches find him buried under rocks in a quarry tunnel. He screams at their approach, still traumatized from a recent attack by Biton. Lampo asks if he can play Medea. Numa answers “I do” with certainty. His audition monologue transforms him: his voice becomes a woman’s, his posture shifts, and he delivers Medea’s grievances against Jason with such conviction that Lampo, listening, turns to Paches and curses him as a “fucker.” The explicit text states: “When I hear all this, I ache at the injustice and turn to Paches and curse him.”

After this audition, Numa wins the part. Gelon embraces him, and Lampo introduces him as “Medea.” Throughout rehearsals (chapters 14–15, evidence from chapter 15), Numa works closely with the chorus and the children production assistants, improving visibly with the food and purpose. In the first performance (chapter 23 evidence), the crowd initially hoots and laughs, but Numa’s presence silences them. The text says: “The crowd shut the fuck up.” He dances, snarls, and forces the audience into empathetic engagement. After Medea ends, the company immediately begins Trojan Women, with Numa as Hecuba. It is during the simulated death of Astyanax that Biton and his men attack (chapter 24 outline). Numa is clubbed to death.

Later, Lampo blames Gelon for Numa’s death (chapter 26 outline), and the old narrator, in the final chapter, remembers the quarry theatre and all the people who were there, including Numa, as “a soft and delicate thing.”

Motivations and Traits

Explicit in the evidence: Numa is “terrified” when first found. He has “massive black eyes” and skin “white from the limestone.” Yet when asked to perform, he agrees immediately and delivers. The text shows he knows the entire Medea script by heart, even prompting other actors. He also knows Trojan Women well enough to summarize the plot for Gelon and Lampo (chapter 17 outline). His talent is prodigious and his memory deep. He is described as “the best we have” by Lampo.

Interpretation: Numa’s motivation likely stems from survival—performing is his only chance to get food and protection. But the strength of his performance suggests a deeper need: to reclaim identity and agency. In the quarry, prisoners are stripped of humanity; by acting, Numa becomes someone else—a woman, a queen, a sorceress—and in doing so, asserts his own continued existence. The evidence notes that during the audition, the narrator feels “the strangest thing” as Numa blends into two beings at once. This can be seen as a survival strategy: he does not merely pretend to be Medea; he becomes her, and the act of transformation keeps him alive mentally even as his body wastes.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Decision to audition: Numa agrees to perform without hesitation. This decision earns him the lead role, regular food, and the protection of Gelon and Lampo. Consequence: He survives longer than many other prisoners, but it also puts him in direct view of the vengeful Syracusan mob.
Decision to perform despite danger: Even after Biton threatens Gelon and Lampo in rehearsal (chapter 15 evidence), Numa continues to rehearse and perform. Consequence: The final performance momentarily unites the audience, but Biton’s attack kills Numa. The text makes clear that the violence is a direct result of the performance having an audience that includes Biton.
Decision to embody Hecuba: Numa takes on the role of the grieving queen, whose children are killed. This choice, made by the directors, amplifies the tragedy when Numa himself is killed during the play. The parallel between the fictional death and his real death is explicit in the outline.

Relationships

With Lampo and Gelon: They see Numa primarily as an actor, a vessel for art. Lampo is moved to curse Paches during the audition, showing the emotional power Numa wields. Gelon embraces him, and later (chapter 19 evidence) when the performance is falling apart, Numa’s presence restores order: “Back in business.” The directors provide food and purpose, but they also expose Numa to danger. After his death, Lampo’s guilt taints his relationship with Gelon.
With Paches: Numa and Paches are fellow prisoners and actors. Paches helps calm Numa when he screams; they share food and rehearsals. In the audition, Numa looks at Paches for approval (“Do it, Numa.”). Their relationship is one of mutual dependence and respect. After Numa’s death, Paches is one of the few survivors (chapter 25 outline).
With Biton: Biton terrorizes the prisoners. He attacks Numa in a tunnel before the play, driving him deeper into the rocks. Biton’s final act of violence is to lead the mob that kills Numa. This explicit antagonism underscores the theme of empathy across enemy lines—or rather, its catastrophic failure.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Numa’s story centrally embodies several themes:

Theatre as Survival: The explicit evidence shows that Numa is only saved from starvation and murder because he can act. The performance gives him a reason to live.
Empathy Across Enemy Lines: Numa’s Medea moves even the Syracusan audience to silence. For a moment, enemies share grief. His death shatters that empathy.
Art vs Violence: The novel directly contrasts Numa’s creation of beauty with Biton’s destruction. The climax blurs the line: the performance of a child’s death triggers a real murder. Numa is the sacrifice that proves art cannot always hold violence at bay.
Grief and Reconciliation: Numa as Hecuba grieves for Troy; Lampo grieves for Numa. His death becomes part of the collective grief that both unites and divides the survivors. The final prayer scene in chapter 21 (outline) and Lampo’s tending of Gelon’s grave (chapter 32 evidence) show that Numa’s loss is never fully reconciled.

5 Book-Specific Questions with Direct Answers

Q1: Why does Numa scream when Lampo first finds him in the tunnel? A: The text explicitly states that Numa had “a run-in with Biton a couple of days ago, escaped by crawling in deeper, where Biton couldn’t fit.” His scream is a trauma response to the threat of being discovered again by an aggressor. This is explicit fact.

Q2: How does Numa’s audition change the way Lampo treats Paches? A: During the audition, Numa performs Medea’s monologue listing Jason’s betrayals. Lampo becomes so absorbed that he turns to Paches and curses him, shouting, “You bastard!” The text records Lampo’s own words: “I ache at the injustice and turn to Paches and curse him.” This shows the immediate power of Numa’s acting to redirect emotions.

Q3: What role does Numa play after Medea, and how does he die? A: Numa plays Hecuba in the subsequent Trojan Women. The outline explicitly states that during the finale, Syracusan men led by Biton storm the stage and club Numa to death. The evidence confirms the attack but leaves Numa’s identity as the victim explicit in the outline.

Q4: Does Numa know he is in danger by performing publicly? A: Explicit in the text, Numa is terrified of Biton from the start. After Biton threatens the group during rehearsal (chapter 15 evidence), Numa continues to rehearse. The narration does not give Numa’s internal thoughts, but his actions suggest he understands the risk. Interpretively, he likely accepts it as the price of performing—or sees no alternative.

Q5: How does Numa’s death affect Lampo? A: In chapter 26 outline, Lampo, frustrated, blames Gelon: “he says everything Gelon touches dies,” listing Numa among the dead. The explicit evidence later shows Lampo as an old man still visiting Gelon’s grave, and in his visions he sees “the quarry theatre, Gelon, the Athenians, the kids, and even Biton, all of us as we were back then… shivering with want.” Numa is part of that remembered softness, suggesting unresolved grief.

Conclusion

Numa is a fleeting but indelible presence in Glorious Exploits. His short arc—from a terrified prisoner hiding in a rock tunnel to a performer who commands the attention of hundreds—dramatizes the novel’s belief in the power of theatre to restore humanity, even amid atrocity. His murder by Biton’s mob is not a failure of art but a testament to its danger: when art breaks through enmity, it can also provoke violence. Numa’s legacy lives on in Lampo’s memory and in the story itself, dictated to Strabo. He remains the character who proves that even in a pit of death, a good performance can make an audience—and a narrator—feel “soft and delicate.”