What Was The Difference Between King Oedipus And Creon

Oedipus Rex

The author of Oedipus Rex, Sophocles, was born in the village of Colonus c. 496 BCE. At age 16, Sophocles was chosen to lead the paean celebrating the Greeks' victory in the Battle of Salamis. He also won his first drama victory in 468 BCE against Aeschylus at the Dionysian Dramatic festival. In addition to this, Sophocles invented scene painting and was the first playwright to introduce a third actor into dramatic performances. Up until his death in 406 BCE, Sophocles lived through the Peloponnesian war, the Persian invasion of Greece and witnessed the fall of the Peisistratus tyranny in Athens.

Oedipus Rex is set in the city of Thebes in Greece. The play takes place during the mythical times of ancient Greece. More specifically,

Based on his choice of words and actions King Oedipus appears to the audience as being insightful, determined, and confident. His trait of determination is made evident when he says, "Then once more I must bring what is dark to light." (Sophocles, Prologue). King Oedipus also makes the audience aware of his confidence by saying, "I say I take the son's part, just as though I were his son, to press the fight for him and see it won! I'll find the hand that brought death to Labdakos' and Polydoros' child, Heir of Kadmos' and Agenor's line." (Sophocles, Act I, Scene I, Lines 52-57). The audience can tell from the script that Creon is eager, honest, and reasonable. An example of Creon's honesty is shown during a conversation with King Oedipus, "The god commands us to expel from the land of Thebes an old defilement we are sheltering. It is a deadly thing, beyond cure; We must not let it feed upon us longer." (Sophocles, Prologue). Creon's reasonable character is shown briefly to the audience as he speaks to Oedipus about his fate. "I should have done that before now --- only, God's will had not been wholly revealed to me." (Sophocles, Éxodus,

However, the most interesting part of the plot occurs when King Oedipus becomes angry with the blind prophet Teiresais because he refuses to tell Oedipus what he knows. Once Teiresais breaks his silence and tells Oedipus that he is the one who killed Laius, Oedipus gets enraged by his accusations (Sophocles, Act II, Scene i). This is most interesting because Oedipus kept trying to make Teiresais tell him what he knew, even after Teiresais said he should not say anything, and once Teiresais did speak his truth he became furious. This scene was interesting to read because it highlighted the irony that King Oedipus should have been more careful of what he asked for. The most important part of the lot takes place when King Oedipus began to realize that despite everyone else's opinion, he should have listened to the prophecies that he had been told. Throughout the course of the play, King Oedipus had been told prophecies that suggested that his wife, Jocasta, is also his mother and that he had killed his father, Laius, which simultaneously solves the riddle of Thebes. Also, it is alluded to multiple times that Oedipus' parents were not his biological parents (Sophocles, Act III, Scene IV). This stood out as the most important scene because it confirms what had already been previously revealed to the audience. In addition, this scene paints the