Strengths And Weaknesses Of Creon Essay

Creon became the king of Thebes when he first ascended the throne after the first king Laius was killed by his son Oedipus. What followed this event was a sphinx curse of the people of Thebes who couldn’t solve its riddle. Fortunately Oedipus came along, solved the riddle and was rewarded with the throne.Later on Oedipus had male twins and two girls. When Oedipus was no longer the king, the twins Eteocles and Polynices agreed to switch ruling the kingdom every year. Eteocles Broke his end of the agreement which led to war that ended in them killing each other. And After this chaos Creon was the only male family member left who could claim the throne. Now we Theban elders are gathered to talk about the choices Creon made that instigated this

One of Creon’s weaknesses is not being accountable and responsible. In Patel’s article about being a prosperous leader he states,“Successful managers know how to use power and authority appropriately without overwhelming or overpowering their employees.” This attribute is important because this helps a person become a leader people look up to and could also trust without feeling scared or worried. Leaders like this are not afraid to stand up for their subordinates. However, Creon does not possess this trait because of what he told the sentry he would do if the person who buried Polynices’ body wasn’t brought to him. Creon said, “See to it! / See to it you! Upon my oath, I swear, / As Zeus is my god above: either you find / The perpetrator of this burial /And bring him here into my sight, or death—/ No, not your mere death shall pay the reckoning, / But for a living lesson against such infamy, / You shall be racked and tortured till you tell / The whole truth of this outrage; so you may learn / To seek your gain where gain is yours to get, / Not try to grasp it everywhere. / In wickedness you’ll find more loss than profit” (lines 251-261). Most people know that when a king threatens to brutally hurt one of his subjects if they are unable to follow a command or assignment means he is misusing his power. Creon is misusing his power because he states, “You shall be racked and tortured to death”, even though the sentry

Doing so will not only help him as a ruler, but will also help the people of Thebes. In order for Creon to improve his strength of being an agile leader , we believe Creon should try to be able to make changes to his belief without having a hard time accepting that his original idea is not conventional. This will benefit the people of Thebes and Creon because a king needs to be able to make law and rule but also revise them when it is necessary so the country can progress in a positive way. Creon can also learn new things as he moves and continues ruling because it is known that your first idea is not always your best idea. As Creon needs to progress on his strengths he also needs to improve on his weaknesses. One of the areas he needs growth in is his ability to be an accountable and responsible Leader. For Creon to develop this trait she needs to start understanding his people and trying to do what's best for them instead of what he thinks is best and justified. This will benefit the people of Thebes because they will be able to have a king who will care about them and is able to make decisions that will benefit them. Creon will also feel better about being a responsible king who can own up to his misstep and win the heart of his