Character Analysis
Read up on Big Bad Uncle Creon in Oedipus the King and Antigone.
In the second play of the trilogy, Creon doesn’t have quite the role he will in Antigone, but that doesn’t make him any more likeable. He’s an all-around jerk, only looking out for himself and manipulating other people’s lives to get his way.
Creon first shows up after making sure that Oedipus was exiled from Thebes, but this time he wants to bring Oedipus back. It’s a little complicated as to why he would want a cursed wanderer roaming around in Thebes, but the gist is this: Oedipus is getting old and will die soon, so Creon wants to bury him in a place that he can keep an eye on but also keep his distance from, just over the border from Thebes.
Creon starts out trying to sweet-talk his old brother-in-law/nephew:
But, oh suffering Oedipus, heed me
And come home! All of the Cadmean people
Summon you, justly, and most of all do I,
Inasmuch as I would be by far the most evil of humans
In my nature if I did not feel pain for your evils, old man. (740-44)
Seems nice enough, right? Wrong-o kablongo.
When Oedipus refuses to follow Creon home, he gets mad and decides to kidnap his daughters, like you do:
Of your two daughters, I have just seized
One and sent her away! The other I will take soon!
[. . .]
Soon you will have more to cry out about! (818-21)
So, yeah, he’s a jerk. But Creon rules by force, which makes him a good foil for Theseus, who rules by reason. And that forceful, irrational rule is part of Thebes’ problem, unfortunately. It will all unravel in Antigone.