# Creon — Oedipus Rex character guide

> Creon in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** O Creon, Creon Friends, Creon Yea, The trusty Creon, Creon The riddling Sphinx

**First appearance:** 0001-dramatis-personae

## Snapshot

Jocasta's brother and Oedipus's trusted envoy, who returns from Delphi with the god's grim prescription for Thebes's plague.

## Who they are

Creon is the king's right hand — 'the trusty Creon' — sent to Pythian Phoebus to learn how Thebes might be saved, and he comes back crowned with laurel and bad news: the city harbors a pollution that must be driven out. He delivers the oracle plainly, naming Laius's unsolved murder and the god's command to punish the killers, and he refuses to soften it for his royal cousin. His steady, unglamorous loyalty makes him the hinge on which Oedipus's investigation turns, and later the man everyone will look to when the throne shakes.

## Relationships

### [Teiresias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/teiresias)

_professional_

Creon seeks Teiresias's prophetic counsel, but their interactions are marked by tension and mutual distrust regarding the truth about Laius's murder.

### [Jocasta](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/jocasta)

_family_

Creon is Jocasta's brother, and they share a bond of loyalty and concern for Thebes, though Creon often acts as a stabilizing force in her life.

### [Laius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/laius)

_family_

Creon is Laius's brother-in-law, and their relationship is one of political alliance and familial duty within the royal house of Thebes.

### [Oedipus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/oedipus)

_family_

Creon is Oedipus's uncle and brother-in-law, but their relationship is strained by Oedipus's accusations of conspiracy and Creon's loyalty to Thebes.

### [Menoeceus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/menoeceus)

_family_

Creon is Menoeceus's father, and their relationship involves Creon's grief over his son's sacrificial death to save Thebes.

### [Apollo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/apollo)

_psychological_

Apollo's oracle drives Creon's actions, as Creon seeks to obey the god's command to purge Thebes of Laius's murderer.

### [Teiresias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/teiresias)

_professional_

Creon seeks Teiresias's prophetic counsel, but their interactions are marked by tension and mutual distrust regarding the truth about Laius's murder.

### [Jocasta](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/jocasta)

_family_

Creon is Jocasta's brother, and they share a bond of loyalty and concern for Thebes, though Creon often acts as a stabilizing force in her life.

### [Laius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/laius)

_family_

Creon is Laius's brother-in-law, and their relationship is one of political alliance and familial duty within the royal house of Thebes.

### [Menoeceus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/menoeceus)

_family_

Creon is Menoeceus's father, and their relationship involves Creon's grief over his son's sacrificial death to save Thebes.

## In the story

### [Dramatis Personae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/chapters/dramatis-personae)

Listed as a character in the dramatis personae.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters/creon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_rex_se/characters