Antigone Essay

Melissa Johnson

English-E- Mr. George

November 9, 2009

Antigone Essay

Oedipus and Creon, Different yet Very Much the Same

All rulers are faced with their own struggles, but also have their moments to

shine. When being faced with these struggles, there are many ways they can be dealt with that may lay the foundation for how they are viewed throughout their reign. The two infamous men with power that Sophocles writes about, Creon and Oedipus, deal with their own share of obstacles that they overcome in ways that may be viewed as similar, which can cause them to be judged differently than expected. Oedipus and Creon share similar traits, but the differences between the two famous rulers of Thebes seem to outweigh the similarities. Oedipus faces many challenges that are brought upon by his doomed fate while Creon brings most of them upon himself.

The most prominent difference between Oedipus and Creon is that Creon is more to blame for everything that happens to him. This is true because he was never struck with a horrible fate, such as Oedipus’s, and he had an example set before him. If Creon had looked to Oedipus’s mistakes as exactly what not to do as king, he would have put himself in a much better position. Another important difference between the two is that Creon made promises to the people of Thebes, and clearly stated that he would not make the same mistakes that Oedipus did: “I am the kind of man who can’t and never could abide the tongue-tied ruler who through fear backs away from sound advice” (Sophocles, 198). By saying this, Creon puts himself in the position of having to live up to that promise and prove to the people of Thebes that he would not be as ignorant as Oedipus. Ironically, Creon does the exact opposite and struggles to listen to other’s warnings and advice almost as much as Oedipus did.

Both Oedipus and Creon, along with many in power back then, had the misfortune of being consumed with pride. This consumption often led them to being very quick to judge others who were simply trying to display the truth. Their pride led to this extremely judgmental characteristic because they could not handle others questioning their knowledge or innocence. It is clear in both Oedipus Rex and Antigone that both kings tend to immediately threaten those who, in reality, haven’t done anything wrong. In Oedipus Rex, the blind prophet, Tiresias, is straight forward and tells Oedipus he is the one who murdered King Laius. Without even considering the fact that he may be right, Oedipus threatens Tiresias:

TIRESIAS: I say that you and your most dearly loved are wrapped together in a hideous sin, blind to the horror of it.

OEDIPUS: You think you can go on blabbering unscathed?

TIRESIAS: Unscathed indeed, if truth is strength.

OEDIPUS: It is. But not for you, you purblind man: in ears and mind and vision (21).

In Antigone, Creon proves that he shares this trait with Oedipus during his conversation with the sentry. When he states that it is a shame Creon doesn’t have better reasoning, Creon responds by saying, “A logic chopper and a wit! But don’t imagine that will save your skin” (204). Creon especially would have been better off and more able to change the way things played out if his sense of pride didn’t stand in the way of him listening to others. It would have also helped Oedipus, but not as much, because he wasn’t able to prevent most things from happening due to his fate.

Oedipus and Creon were also similar in that they were both extremely stubborn; however, Creon wasn’t quite as ignorant as Oedipus. Unlike Oedipus, Creon came to and realized that he had made some serious mistakes and that he wanted to change things. He attempted to free Antigone in order to allow her to marry his son, but it was too late. Creon found her dead body in the chamber, with his sons’ body alongside. Although by the time he realized what he had done was wrong it was too late to change the outcome, at least he tried. By the time Oedipus had realized his mistakes, it was impossible to even attempt to change things because everything had already taken place. It is clear that Creon felt much more responsible for the situation while it was happening, which proves that he is much less stubborn than Oedipus was during his rule: “It’s hard to eat my words, but harder still to court catastrophe through overriding pride” (240). He was willing to accept that he did not want to cause even more chaos and that he needed to put his pride aside for the time being in order to save his son, Haemon, and his future daughter in law, Antigone, from facing their dreadful ends.

It is important to know that although there are many similarities between Oedipus and Creon and how they ruled Thebes, there is also a multitude of differences. Those differences are important because they could be considered how Oedipus and Creon were seen as both people and as leaders. Although Oedipus was not as responsible for the events that took place during his reign as Creon was, everything evens out because he did not even try to change the outcome. Overall, like any human beings, they shared many weaknesses and had many of the same downfalls, but they were nowhere near being the same person, even in their infamy.