According to Teiresias, What Is the â€å“new Calamityã¢â‚¬â That Creon Has Brought to Thebes?

Figure in Greek mythology

Creon (; Ancient Greek: Κρέων, romanized: Kreōn , lit.'ruler'^[2]), is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus.

Family [edit]

Creon had four sons and three daughters with his wife, Eurydice (sometimes known as Henioche): Henioche, Pyrrha, Megareus (as well called Menoeceus), Lycomedes and Haimon. Creon and his sis, Jocasta, were descendants of Cadmus and of the Spartoi. He is sometimes considered to be the same person who purified Amphitryon of the murder of his uncle Electryon and begetter of Megara, commencement wife of Heracles.

Mythology [edit]

First Regency [edit]

After the decease of King Laius of Thebes past the hands of his own son Oedipus, Creon saturday on the vacant throne and became the ruler of the kingdom. During this regency, Amphitryon arrived with his fiancée Alcmena and her half-brother Licymnius from Mycenae, seeking exile and purification for the death of his prospective father-in-constabulary Rex Electryon, whom he accidentally had killed. Creon purified him, and received all three as exiles in Thebes. It was then that Amphitryon gave his sis Perimede as wife to Licymnius. The latter was a bounder son of King Electryon, and the only amid the brothers who did not dice at the hands of the sons of King Pterelaus of Taphos..

When rancorous Alcmena arrived to Thebes, she declared that she would non marry Amphitryon until he avenged her brothers, who had died during the war between Mycenae and Taphos.^[3] Amphitryon then, wishing to ally her but defective resource for the campaign, asked Creon to assist him.^[4]

Cadmean Fox [edit]

And so the rule of Creon, in accordance with the Theban curriculum, began with tribulation. For as soon as he came to power, the wrath of Dionysus was upon the city in the shape of a play a trick on that was blighted never to be caught. To this play a trick on (known sometimes as the Cadmean Fox) the Thebans each month exposed ane child in an attempt to forestall the animal from carrying off many others.

And so, when Amphitryon asked Creon for help, he replied he would bring together the expedition confronting Taphos if Amphitryon would rid the state of the plague that was ravaging information technology. Amphitryon and then, not beingness able to cope with the united nations-get-at-able flim-flam, obtained from Cephalus the dog that his wife Procris had received from Minos, which was fated to take hold of whatever it pursued. And although the dilemma that arose when the ii animals confronted each other was of such nature that it required the intervention of Zeus, the problem was withal solved when the god turned both beasts into rock; and and so Creon aided Amphitryon and, when the war was over, Alcmena married her fiancé.^[v]

Creon's daughters [edit]

Some fourth dimension later on Alcmena gave nativity to Heracles, child of Zeus and not of Amphitryon, and when this son was grown upwardly, he led the Thebans confronting Erginus, the king of the Minyans who imposed a tribute later his begetter was killed by Perieres, charioteer of Creon's father Menoceus. It was and so that Creon rewarded Heracles by giving him in matrimony his own daughter Megara. These two had children: Therimachus, Deicoon, Creontiades, and Ophites, but they were all flung into the fire past their father, when he, in a fit of madness, gave himself to domestic violence. Some say that besides Megara died at the easily of her husband, but others say that Heracles gave her in union to his own nephew and charioteer Iolaus. It is as well said that Creon gave some other and younger daughter to Amphitryon's son Iphicles, who already was father of Iolaus by Automedusa, girl of Alcathous, son of Pelops.^[6]

The Sphinx [edit]

The most serious trial that Thebes had to confront under the first rule of Creon was, however, the calamity of the Sphinx, which appeared laying waste material the Theban fields, and declaring that information technology would not depart unless someone correctly interpreted a certain riddle which she presented. In social club to face this adversity, Creon made a announcement throughout Hellas, promising that he would give the kingdom of Thebes and his sister Jocasta in marriage to him who solved the riddle of the Sphinx. And since when information technology comes to acquiring ability, property and women, there are always many willing to take any risks they deem necessary, going through no matter which atrocities, many came and many were destroyed by the Sphinx, who gobbled them upwardly ane past ane — the price of failure to solve her riddle.

But since all calamities must end some day, the Sphinx was finally defeated by Oedipus, who, having heard Creon's annunciation, came to Thebes and, by solving the riddle, acquired the animate being to destroy itself. And since Creon fulfilled his hope, Oedipus received both the throne of his own father, whom he had murdered for a trifle on a road not knowing who the homo was, and Creon'southward sis Jocasta as wife, unaware that this woman was his ain mother. These are the bizarre gifts with which Creon rewarded Oedipus for having destroyed the Sphinx.^[7]

End of first rule [edit]

In this manner ended the kickoff rule of Creon. And whereas some might say his decisions on this important matter were evil, others would atone him, arguing that Creon had no idea who Oedipus was. Therefore, they would say, Creon could not be blamed, and nor could Oedipus, who didn't know his own identity. And, since these 2 opinions cannot be reconciled, a third may announced — confronting all sense — blaming the gods, or Fate, or Fortune, or some other force from in a higher place or below. And still others might maintain that Oedipus was, in any case, guilty of murder: for he killed not one man, just ii, and for a trivial affair; and Creon could be accounted to have been out of his mind when he offered both throne and queen to a complete unknown on the ground of i single merit. Therefore, they might add together, both were guilty, not so much of the offenses that made them famous, simply of other faults; and being the one criminal, and the other incompetent, they were both punished and more calamities followed.

Theban cycle [edit]

In Sophocles [edit]

Creon figures prominently in the plays Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone, written past Sophocles.

Oedipus Rex [edit]

In Oedipus Rex, Creon is a brother of queen Jocasta, the married woman of Male monarch Laius too every bit Oedipus. Laius, a previous king of Thebes, had given the dominion to Creon while he went to consult the oracle at Delphi. During Laius'southward absence, the Sphinx came to Thebes. When word came of Laius's death, Creon offered the throne of Thebes as well as the mitt of his sister (and Laius's widow) Jocasta, to anyone who could free the metropolis from the Sphinx. Oedipus answered the Sphinx's riddle and married Jocasta, unaware that she was his mother. Over the course of the play, as Oedipus comes closer to discovering the truth virtually Jocasta, Creon plays a constant role close to him. When Oedipus summons Tiresias to tell him what is plaguing the city and Tiresias tells him that he is the problem, Oedipus accuses Creon of conspiring against him. Creon argues that he does not want to rule and would, therefore, accept no incentive to overthrow Oedipus. Nevertheless, when the truth is revealed about Jocasta, and Oedipus requests to be exiled, it is Creon who grants his wish and takes the throne in his stead.

Antigone [edit]

In Antigone, Creon is the ruler of Thebes. Oedipus's sons, Eteocles and Polynices, had shared the rule jointly until they quarreled, and Eteocles expelled his brother. In Sophocles' account, the two brothers agreed to alternate rule each year, merely Eteocles decided not to share power with his blood brother later on his tenure expired. Polynices left the kingdom, gathered an army and attacked the urban center of Thebes in the war of the Seven confronting Thebes.

The Thebans won the war, simply both sons of Oedipus were killed, leaving Creon equally ruler once more, serving equally regent for Laodamas, the son of Eteocles. Creon gives Eteocles a total and honorable burying, simply orders (under penalty of death) that Polynices' corpse be left to rot on the battlefield equally penalization for his treason. Such state of non-burial was considered a frightening and terrible prospect in the civilisation of ancient Greece. Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, who is betrothed to Creon's son Haemon, defies him by burying her brother, and is condemned to be entombed alive every bit penalization. Antigone tells Creon that it is the duty of the living to bury the expressionless and that if a body is non cached so the one who died will wander around in nowhere aimlessly for all eternity. Creon finally relents, following advice from the chorus leader (choragos), after Tiresias tells him to bury the body. However, when Creon arrives at the tomb where she was to be interred, Antigone has already hanged herself rather than be buried live. His son, Haemon, threatens him and tries to kill him but ends up taking his own life.^[eight]

In Creon's erstwhile historic period, a descendant of an earlier king of Thebes named Lycus invades Thebes and, after killing Creon, takes the crown.^[nine]

Character traits [edit]

Creon is pitted confronting Antigone, who holds upwardly the will of the gods and the honor of her family unit in a higher place all else; and thus he appears to exist confronting these values. His behavior, however, suggests otherwise. He aggressively preaches the concept of family unit award to his son, Haemon. Creon also believes that his decrees are consequent with the volition of the gods and with the all-time interests of the people, whether true or not. When a legitimate argument is raised against his course of action by Tiresias, he is in fact completely open to changing course, even earlier he learns of the deaths of his family unit members.^[x]

Discrepancies [edit]

The Creon of Oedipus Rex is in some means different and in some means like to the Creon of Antigone. In Oedipus Rex, he appears to favor the will of the gods in a higher place decrees of state. Fifty-fifty when Oedipus says that, once dethroned, he must be exiled, Creon waits for the approval of the gods to carry out the gild once he has been crowned king.

Some explanation for these discrepancies in personality may exist fatigued from his label in the third of the Oedipus plays by Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus. Here, Creon takes on another persona: that of the "hard-faced politician".^[11] He is reasonable and minor, staying at-home and maintaining his dignity when condemned by Theseus. He is a "colorless effigy" beyond his official position, which suggests that his differing personality traits in the books are considering he is a flexible effigy whom poets tin can characterize every bit they please.^[11]

Other representations [edit]

Creon is also featured in Euripides' Phoenician Women, but not in Medea—the latter had a different Creon.

Creon is portrayed as a tyrant in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Knight'due south Tale, and in a subsequently adaptation of the same story, William Shakespeare'due south and John Fletcher'due south play The Two Noble Kinsmen. As in Antigone, he refuses to allow the burying of defeated enemies. His enemies' widows appeal to Theseus, who defeats Creon in boxing. Though much discussed, he does non announced as a character in either version.

The Roman poet Statius recounts a differing version of Creon's assumption of ability from that followed by Sophocles, in his first-century epic, the Thebaid. This alternate narrative may have been based on a previous epic of the Theban bike written by the Greek poet Antimachus in the 4th or 5th century BC. Antimachus' piece of work has been lost, but in any example, the classic myths often had more than one variation, and playwrights and poets had some freedom to choose or fifty-fifty innovate for dramatic issue.

In Moira Buffini's modernisation of the story, Welcome to Thebes, Creon's widow Eurydice is portrayed equally President of Thebes following his death.

Seamus Heaney'southward The Burial at Thebes (2004) includes a annotation from the writer comparing Creon'due south actions to those of the Bush administration.^[12]

Natalie Haynes' novel The Children of Jocasta (2017) portrays Creon as the architect of Eteocles' murder of Polynices, and then that he tin accept Eteocles killed as a traitor and become king himself. Antigone inspires the Thebans to turn against him and murder him so that she can become queen.

In pop civilization [edit]

• Creon appears in the 1959 film Hercules Unchained, portrayed by Italian thespian Carlo D'Angelo. The film omits much of his mythology and depicts Creon every bit a noble high priest and councilor to the reigning King Etocles of Thebes. He is supportive of Hercules' diplomatic efforts to save Thebes from the dispute between the brothers Eteocles and Polynices. At the moving picture'due south determination, Creon is best-selling as the new king after the deaths of Eteocles and Polynices. The motion-picture show nevertheless maintains a semblance of Creon'due south mythology as a devout follower of the gods and their will.

Notes [edit]

1. ^ J. Paul Getty Museum 92.AE.86.
2. ^ Robin Hard. The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology (2004) ^{[ folio needed ]}
3. ^ Apollodorus, 2.four.six This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
4. ^ Apollodorus, two.4.7
5. ^ Apollodorus, ii.4.6–7
6. ^ Apollodorus, 2.4.11–12
7. ^ Apollodorus, three.v.8
8. ^ Antigone, line 1360.
9. ^ Euripides, Heracles 54
10. ^ MacKay, 50.A. "Antigone, Coriolanus, and Hegel". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Clan, Vol. 93. (1962), p. 167. (Stable URL)
11. ^ ^{a b} Sophocles. Oedipus at Colonus. Murray, Gilbert, ed. New York: Oxford University Printing, 1948.
12. ^ McElroy, Steven. "The Week Ahead: January. 21 - 27". The New York Times. 21 January 2007.

References [edit]

• Apollodorus, The Library with an English language Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in two Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-iv. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the aforementioned website.
• Euripides, Heracles, translated past Eastward. P. Coleridge in The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. Book 1. New York. Random House. 1938.

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creon_(king_of_Thebes)

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