Kreon (1)Creon

The brother of Iokaste (Jocasta) and eventually the ruler of the city of Thebes; the tragic life of Kreon is tied to the ill fate which marked the life of Oedipus and his children.

While Oedipus was the king of Thebes, Kreon was content to simply be a member of the royal household; he did not envy the throne because, as the brother of the queen, he had money, respect and power without having the responsibilities or burdens that came with the throne; when a blight afflicted the countryside around Thebes, Oedipus sent Kreon to the oracle at Delphi to ask what the citizens of Thebes might do to regain their prosperity; when Kreon returned to Thebes he informed Oedipus that the prosperity of the country would not be restored until the murderer of king Laius was driven from the city.

After a painful investigation, Oedipus was made to realize that he, as a pawn of the Immortals, had murdered his father, king Laius, and married his mother, Iokaste; this meant that the children of Oedipus were also his brothers and sisters; when they realized their role in this horrible tragedy, Iokaste hanged herself and Oedipus blinded himself and left the city in disgrace.

Oedipus’ eldest son, Eteokles (Eteocles) assumed the throne and Oedipus’ youngest son, Polynikes (Polynices) was exiled to Argos; Polynikes organized an army to retake Thebes but Kreon could see that the inevitable outcome would be a disaster for Thebes regardless of who won the war; in an attempt to consolidate popular support, he went to the exiled Oedipus and begged him to return to the borders of Thebes and help defuse the impending doom that threatened the city; when Oedipus refused to help, Kreon kidnapped Oedipus’ daughters, Ismene and Antigone; the legendary king of Athens, Theseus, intervened and saved the girls and gave Oedipus sanctuary.

Kreon could do nothing but return to Thebes and await the inevitable war between the sons of Oedipus; Polynikes and his army attacked Thebes but the attack failed and both Polynikes and Eteokles were killed on each other’s spear; with the two sons of Oedipus dead, Kreon became the ruler of Thebes; his first decree was that Eteokles would be buried as a hero for defending the city and that Polynikes would be left to the dogs and vultures for his disgraceful attack on the city; Antigone defied Kreon and buried Polynikes; she was punished by being entombed alive in a cave; the blind prophet, Teiresias, warned Kreon that his actions were an affront to the Immortals and that if he did not give Polynikes a decent burial and forgive Antigone, he and his family would suffer dire consequences.

Kreon relented and buried Polynikes but before he could free Antigone from the cave, she hanged herself; Kreon’s son, Haemon, was the first to open the cave where Antigone was entombed and when he saw her dead body he flew into a rage and tried, but failed, to kill his father; Haemon then stabbed himself with his sword and died clinging to the body of Antigone; when Kreon returned to his palace carrying Haemon’s dead body, he was informed that his wife, Eurydike (Eurydice) had also killed herself.

The tragedy, Antigone, by Sophokles (Sophocles) tells the entire tragic story; in the poem, Shield of Herakles (Heracles) by Hesiod, Kreon’s wife is said to be Eniokhe (Enioche); since Hesiod predates Sophokles we should assume that Eniokhe was, in fact, the name of king Kreon’s wife.

I personally recommend the Penguin Classics version of The Theban Plays translated by E. F. Watling (ISBN 0140440038); the book includes the three plays dealing with Oedipus and his family: King Oedipus, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone; I also recommend the Richmond Lattimore translation of Hesiod (ISBN 0472439030 clothbound or ISBN 0472081616 paper bound); you can find these books at your local library or you can order them through the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.

• Shield of Herakles, line 83