Creon And Oedipus Essay, Research Paper

Creon and Oedipus

What leads a great man to his downfall? The answer is pride, or hubris. Pride crushes leaders, destroys cities, demolishes states, and annihilates countries. In the plays ANTIGONE and OEDIPUS THE KING, the same flaw crumbles the two leaders. The two kings of Thebes, Creon and Oedipus, come to their demise because of the same tragic flaw they share, pride. The two characters Creon and Oedipus share many similarities, such as their tragic flaw and their downfall due to their pride. Nevertheless, Creon ruled Thebes by his own will, rather than for the good of the people however Oedipus ruled Thebes for the people, he cared for the people. The two characters, the tragic heroes, share similar qualities but view their roles as leaders differently.

Oedipus is blinded by his pride. Oedipus mocks Tiresias, a blind prophet of Apollo, Blind, lost in the night, endless night that nursed you! In ridiculing Tiresias he is in fact ridiculing the gods. He says to Tiresias, much as you want. Your words are nothing. He does not realize that he is the one that is blind; he is the plague upon Thebes. His blindness in his search for the truth leads to his eventual disgrace. Oedipus accuses Creon and Tiresias of plotting against his to overthrow him. Oedipus cannot change the past but he can control the present and in the present he has a will to know- and therefore, to control reality. This will to know and his want to control reality is his pride. Oedipus comes to his senses when it is too late. Blinded by his pride, he has nowhere to go and is a disgrace. He is responsible for his own downfall as is Creon.

Creon is a tragic figure with the same flaw. Creon says, experience, there s the test. He does not bear in mind what happened to Oedipus before him. He doesn t use his experience to see that it is his pride, which is going to lead to his eventual demise. His stubbornness is an integral part of his personality. He is not a fool however: he is a man who is losing power, and there is no way he can accommodate that loss while retaining his self-respect. I am not the man, not now: she is the man if this victory goes to her and she goes free. It is lucid that Creon does not want to admit that he is wrong because he is worried about his own self-appearance so much. His stubborn, and arrogant ways lead to the deaths of Antigone, Haemon, and his wife Eurydice. Creon too does not respect the wise Tiresias. Tiresias urges Creon to bury the body of Polynices but Creon tells him, you and the whole breed of seers are mad for money! He stupidly doesn t believe Tiresias even though he prophesized Oedipus s downfall. Creon and Oedipus come to their downfall because of the same reason: their pride. However their views on how the should lead Thebes is different.

Each, Creon and Oedipus, have different views on how each wants to lead Thebes. Creon ruled Thebes using his own will. He feels that he is Thebes. Am I to rule this land for others-or myself? This rhetoric question shows that he thinks that he should rule the city as he wants and assumes that the people feel the same way as him. On the other hand Oedipus ruled the city for himself. He tried to do anything that is necessary to try to salvage the city. Oedipus started his quest, which led to his disgrace, in an attempt to try and save the city. He cared for the people. I grieve for these, my people, far more than I fear for my own life. Oedipus tells Creon when Creon brings news from Delphi. This shows that Oedipus tried to help and please his people.

The two characters are unique with many similar qualities. The two characters are blind like the prophet, who warns them. Their blindness is an effect of the common disease they each share-pride. They shared grief, they shared pain, and they shared misery, but they did not share the views about their roles as leaders. Creon believed that he ruled the city for his himself. However Oedipus ruled Thebes for the people. Both came to a gruesome downfall. They are the characters that we anger ourselves over. We anger ourselves because we can see how their pride took them from great to a mere disgrace.