Why does Creon kidnap Antigone and Ismene?

Creon kidnaps Antigone and Ismene when Oedipus will not return to Thebes willingly. Physical force is meant to compel the old king — seize what he loves so he will follow or so Thebes can control the oracle’s prize. The act violates guest-friendship and Colonus’s sanctuary; Theseus intervenes with Athenian force and restores the sisters.

The abduction shows Theban politics at its worst in this play: Creon is not the measured regent of Oedipus Rex but an enforcer of state interest. Hospitality and exile themes collide — Athens protects suppliants; Thebes treats kin as hostages. For essays, compare Creon’s strategy here to his later rigidity in Antigone; Sophocles traces a family of rulers who confuse possession with justice.