Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides Character Analysis in Middlesex

Lefty is Cal and Chapter Eleven’s grandfather, Milton and Zoë’s father, and Desdemona’s husband and brother. Also born in Bithynios, as a man Lefty has more freedom than Desdemona, and he is also less mature and responsible than her. He has a weakness for gambling, which causes him problems throughout his life. Desdemona attempts to set Lefty up with girls from their village, but because he is in love with Desdemona herself, Lefty rejects them. He and Desdemona end up immigrating to the U.S. and getting married on the boat ride over. In their new country, the newlyweds meet up with their cousin Sourmelina (who promises to keep the fact that they’re siblings a secret) and Lina’s husband, Jimmy Zizmo. Lefty takes a job at the Ford Motor Company and learns English, although he is then fired by Ford for living in the house of someone (Jimmy) who has a criminal record. Lefty briefly gets involved in Jimmy’s bootlegging business, then opens a speakeasy called the Zebra Room in his basement after Jimmy is seemingly killed in a car accident. Once Prohibition ends, Lefty reopens the Zebra Room as a proper diner, which Milton eventually inherits. Lefty is intelligent, resourceful, and charming. He enjoys spending time making translations of works of Ancient Greek literature, although this always remains a hobby, never something he does professionally. In his old age, Lefty has multiple strokes, the first of which leaves him unable to speak. Despite his failing health, he remains physically fit and helpful around the house. He has a special connection with Callie, and there is a sense that when he dies, he passes on some of himself to her.

Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides Quotes in Middlesex

The Middlesex quotes below are all either spoken by Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides or refer to Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Traveling made it easier. Sailing across the ocean among half a thousand perfect strangers conveyed an anonymity in which my grandparents could re-create themselves. The driving spirit on the Giulia was self-transformation. Staring out to sea, tobacco farmers imagined themselves as race car drivers, silk dyers as Wall Street tycoons, millinery girls as fan dancers in the Ziegfeld Follies. Gray ocean stretched in all directions. Europe and Asia Minor were dead behind them. Ahead lay America and new horizons.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides, Desdemona Stephanides

Page Number and Citation: 68

Explanation and Analysis:

My grandparents had every reason to believe that Sourmelina would keep their secret. She’d come to America with a secret of her own, a secret that would be guarded by our family until Sourmelina died in 1979, whereupon, like everyone’s secrets, it was posthumously declassified, so that people began to speak of “Sourmelina’s girlfriends.” A secret kept, in other words, only by the loosest definition, so that now—as I get ready to leak the information myself—I feel only a sight twinge of filial guilt.

Sourmelina’s secret (as Aunt Zo put it): “Lina was one of those women they named the island after.”

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Zoë Antoniou (“Aunt Zo”) (speaker), Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides, Desdemona Stephanides, Sourmelina Zizmo

Page Number and Citation: 85-86

Explanation and Analysis:

This once-divided city reminds me of myself My struggle for unification, for Einheit. Coming from a city still cut in half by racial hatred, I feel hopeful here in Berlin.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides, Sourmelina Zizmo, Desdemona Stephanides

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 106

Explanation and Analysis:

Parents are supposed to pass down physical traits to their children, but it’s my belief that all sorts of other things get passed down, too: motifs, scenarios, even fates.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides, Jimmy Zizmo a.k.a. Minister Fard, Sourmelina Zizmo, Desdemona Stephanides

Page Number and Citation: 109

Explanation and Analysis:

[…] right about this time Lefty’s English began to deteriorate. He made spelling and grammatical mistakes he’d long mastered and soon he began writing broken English and then no English at all. He made written allusions to Bursa, and now Desdemona began to worry. She knew that the backward progression of her husband’s mind could lead to only one place, back to the days when he wasn’t her husband but her brother, and she lay in bed at night awaiting the moment with trepidation.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides, Desdemona Stephanides

Page Number and Citation: 268

Explanation and Analysis:

Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides Character Timeline in Middlesex

The timeline below shows where the character Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides appears in Middlesex. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Desdemona, Tessie, and Chapter Eleven attend church. Milton never comes and neither does Desdemona’s husband, Lefty, who stays home working on his modern Greek translations of Sappho. While Tessie sits in... (full context)

...Milton is thrilled by the news that she is indeed a girl. That same day, Lefty has a stroke, and loses the ability to speak. Desdemona, meanwhile, is disturbed that her... (full context)

Desdemona’s brother Eleutherios, nicknamed Lefty, is singing a song in English without being able to understand the words.... (full context)

However, recently Lefty has been going to Bursa often, sometimes staying overnight. He has been learning French and... (full context)

Bithynios’s already small population has dwindled in recent years. Desdemona and Lefty’s cousin Sourmelina recently moved to “a place called Detroit” in America. Of the hundred people... (full context)

Lefty, meanwhile, goes down to the market where he reluctantly tries to sell the silkworm cocoons.... (full context)

At midnight, Lefty goes to a brothel and chooses a girl who has braids and sad eyes like... (full context)

Lefty tells Desdemona that he’s noticed that Lucille smells better and that Victoria’s mustache is gone,... (full context)

...has done Victoria’s hair and makeup and taught her how to hold herself. However, before Lefty even gets to the house, he turns around. Back at home, Desdemona puts on the... (full context)

...off the corset, lies on the bed, and cries herself to sleep. She dreams about Lefty. Cal wonders what drew them together, pondering if it was the “gene,” but then says... (full context)

Lefty wins, and tells Desdemona he wants to marry her, saying that they are not just... (full context)

As the Greek Army retreats, it sets fire to everything it passes. Lefty says they can’t be in Bithynios when the Turks come back and seek “revenge.” He... (full context)

...Pasha for diverticulitis three years ago; the letter offers assurance of Kemal Pasha’s protection. Meanwhile, Lefty Stephanides—the refugee Philobosian just treated—smiles as he buys chureki from the bakery, feeling hopeful. In... (full context)

However, when Lefty brings Desdemona the chureki and she flinches, moving away from him while they eat, he... (full context)

Lefty has never played poker before and at first he keeps losing. However, eventually he gets... (full context)

By September 7, every Greek man in Smyrna (including Lefty) wears a fez, hoping to “pass as a Turk.” Lefty attempts to buy a ticket... (full context)

...from outside, he hears his neighbor singing, and rushes out against his wife’s protests. Meanwhile, Lefty and Desdemona watch as the fires begin rolling toward them. They are surrounded by people... (full context)

Desdemona says they are going to die, but Lefty replies that they will survive, and then get married. Suddenly, well-dressed people emerge from the... (full context)

...all his children have been slaughtered. His daughters are naked, with their breasts cut off. Lefty, using the French he’s learned, approaches the French officials and tells them he was born... (full context)

...and began to unravel. Cal compares this story to himself unravelling his own story. Desdemona, Lefty, and Dr. Philobosian get to Athens, where they receive papers and inoculations in preparation for... (full context)

...an emergency Greek passport under her mother’s maiden name, which will allow her to marry Lefty. They board the ship separately and do not speak for the whole first day of... (full context)

Desdemona and Lefty are thrilled that they are successfully managing to trick everyone. Over time, they begin to... (full context)

...makes her think of Euphrosyne, which reminds her of the incestuous nature of her marriage. Lefty feels conflicted too, but before long they lose themselves in sex. The ship’s captain watches... (full context)

Every night over the next week Lefty and Desdemona have sex in the lifeboat. They try to become strangers to one another,... (full context)

...who commit incest are among those banned from immigrating to the country. It helps that Lefty and Desdemona have a sponsor in the form of their cousin Sourmelina. Lefty notes that... (full context)

...of the Woodward Plan, an 1807 plan to structure the city in “interlocking hexagons.” When Lefty and Desdemona arrive in Detroit in 1922, it is famous for producing “spinning things,” including... (full context)

...to dump out her silkworm cocoons. When they arrive at Grand Trunk Station in Detroit, Lefty is stunned by the marble Corinthian pillars, and feels he has arrived in “the future.”... (full context)

Sourmelina asks about Lefty’s wife; he says she’s still in the bathroom. Sourmelina laments how hard it must have... (full context)

...look anything like the picture he’d sent of himself. Sourmelina is surprised to hear about Lefty and Desdemona’s marriage but immediately agrees to keep it a secret. She notes that they... (full context)

Neither Lefty nor Desdemona notice the signs of economic deprivation and anti-black racism that hint at what’s... (full context)

...for five years and still don’t have children. However, Sourmelina refuses. Over the next week, Lefty and Desdemona learn that Jimmy treats Sourmelina like a daughter more than a wife. He... (full context)

Jimmy takes Lefty to the Personnel Department at the Ford Factory. The manager they speak to says Lefty... (full context)

The work is fast-moving, repetitive, physically difficult, and dangerous. Lefty doesn’t speak during the day, but as soon as his shift is over he walks... (full context)

...at Jimmy’s door, saying they are from the Ford Sociological Department and asking to see Lefty. They explain that they are checking in on workers because Mr. Ford has ordered that... (full context)

Desdemona sews Lefty a traditional Greek vest for the pageant. Lefty and Jimmy go to a suit store... (full context)

Onstage, there is a large cauldron covered with the phrase: “FORD ENGLISH SCHOOL MELTING POT.” Lefty and the other students, dressed in traditional clothing, mime the experience of immigrating to America.... (full context)

...cycles were synced, and once they both get pregnant they start throwing up in unison. Lefty and Zizmo soon realize that they do not have an important role to play during... (full context)

One night, Zizmo takes Lefty for a drive, explaining that he is going to get him a better job than... (full context)

Lefty panics, claiming this means he’s going to get deported. However, Zizmo replies that they have... (full context)

...doesn’t have any deformities, and promises that this will be the only child she and Lefty have. On December 17, Sourmelina goes into labor, giving birth to a baby girl. Zizmo... (full context)

...Zizmo drives them to the affluent neighborhood of Grosse Pointe. They approach the lake, and Lefty realizes that Zizmo is planning to drive to Canada over the ice. They aren’t sure... (full context)

Back on the lake, Lefty smells something metallic from the car, while Zizmo asks why Lefty never mentions to other... (full context)

Zizmo continues to accuse Lefty of being the father of Sourmelina’s child, but by this point the car is so... (full context)

...takes place. The police were never able to find his body, but chose to accept Lefty’s explanation that Zizmo had been ice fishing and was possibly drunk. An open casket containing... (full context)

...not have sex. Desdemona doesn’t want to have sex at the moment anyway, much to Lefty’s annoyance. Lefty has what Cal describes as the all-too-common male experience of feeling jealous of... (full context)

During this time Lefty also goes in search of a new job. He spends his spare time translating Ancient... (full context)

The financial crash of 1929 and ensuing Great Depression takes a toll on Lefty’s speakeasy. Later, when Callie is a child, Desdemona will tell her stories about the horrors... (full context)

On the journey, Desdemona feels annoyed with Lefty, whose claim that silk isn’t made in Detroit turns out to have been false. She... (full context)

...finds herself riveted by his words. Cal speculates that the guilt Desdemona felt about marrying Lefty may have been part of what made her receptive to Fard’s teachings. On one occasion... (full context)

...closely for signs that something is wrong with them. She refuses to have sex with Lefty, and eventually he gives up trying. Lefty focuses on work instead. The slump in customers... (full context)

Despite the Depression, people still buy the photographs, and Lefty’s income becomes stable again. Meanwhile, Desdemona is still captivated by Fard’s speeches. She begins to... (full context)

...sneaks into the main temple. Fard is there, and greets her by name, asking after Lefty. Desdemona is shocked; Fard explains that he “know[s] everything.” He asks about Milton and the... (full context)

...by Tessie, is 20 years old. World War II is ranging, Prohibition has ended, and Lefty has closed down the speakeasy. Using the money from the erotic photographs, he opens a... (full context)

...group of customers come in saying they have just beaten a black man to death, Lefty refuses to serve them, forcing them to leave at gunpoint. While Tessie sits at home... (full context)

...choice. After a period of moping around, Milton suddenly decides to enlist in the Navy. Lefty is furious; he finds the decision arrogant and naïve, and reminds Milton that he missed... (full context)

...marries him. In 1950 the Black Bottom ghetto is bulldozed. Back in Detroit, Milton tells Lefty that he wants to run a chain of restaurants, starting with the Zebra Room. This... (full context)

Showing Lefty around the house, Milton points out that there is a library where Lefty can work... (full context)

...moving to Florida after hearing about a place called New Smyrna Beach. After 26 months, Lefty realizes with a start that he has spent all his money—he only has $13 left... (full context)

Back at home, Desdemona has discovered Lefty’s body on the kitchen floor. Having not been able to hear his heartbeat, she assumes... (full context)

Lefty, meanwhile, has recovered well and remains physically fit, helpful around the house, and devoted to... (full context)

...horrified to realize that he has waited too long; it is worth less than what Lefty originally bought it for, decades earlier. There is a particular patron of the diner considered... (full context)

...fail. He spends his days lying on the patio and letting his beard grow out. Lefty tries to encourage him, but after the stoke Milton has begun to perceive his father... (full context)

Lefty, Desdemona, Tessie, and the children spend three days in the attic, not bathing or brushing... (full context)

As a child, Callie is very close to Lefty. She finds his lack of speech “dignified,” and feels that they understand each other without... (full context)

...around each other, giggling as they slip and fall. Suddenly, Callie is shocked to see Lefty looking at them. Clementine immediately claims that she and Callie were only playing “water ballet,”... (full context)

...heart attack. She and her mother leave the neighborhood, and Callie never sees her again. Lefty comes home from the hospital, but over the next three years his mind slowly unravels.... (full context)

When Lefty gets back to the 1930s, his English becomes bad again, and Desdemona suddenly fears that... (full context)

By the time of Lefty’s death, Callie has an innate ability to understand both genders, which gives her a special... (full context)

...being “left alone” in the U.S., and feels that her life is over now that Lefty is dead. Father Mike promises that “it’ll pass,” but it doesn’t. Desdemona sleeps late, barely... (full context)

...Sourmelina, who calls from New Mexico. She refuses, and instead starts dividing up her and Lefty’s possessions and making her own funeral arrangements. Desdemona doesn’t fear death, which she sees as... (full context)

...fact she is only 71, and ignores the fact that despite eating the same diet, Lefty died fairly young after suffering several strokes. (full context)

...Ed assures him that women will prefer him this way. Cal comments that just as Lefty and Desdemona fled home and reinvented themselves, so is he. He explains that from New... (full context)

...Cal is enchanted by her long, fine, grey hair. When Desdemona sees him, she exclaims, “Lefty!” But Cal explains that it is him, her grandson. Apologetically, Desdemona admits that she doesn’t... (full context)

When Cal asks, Desdemona explains that Lefty was her third cousin, but also her brother. Cal is stunned. At this moment, Tessie... (full context)

Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides Character Analysis

Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides Quotes in Middlesex

Book 1: The Silk Road Quotes

Book 2: Henry Ford’s English-Language Melting Pot Quotes

Book 2: Minotaurs Quotes

Book 3: Middlesex Quotes

Eleutherios “Lefty” Stephanides Character Timeline in Middlesex