Oedipus The King Rhetorical Analysis

Anna Cagle In the Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles around 400 BC, Creon, Oedipus’ brother in law, gave a speech that illustrated his reluctant attitude towards Oedipus’ assumptions of his intention to be King. Before Creon’s speech, Oedipus had sent him to receive an oracle that would reveal Oedipus’ fate. When Creon shared that the oracle told him Oedipus would kill his father and sleep with his mother, Oedipus was furious and believed Creon and Tiresias were plotting against him so Creon could take his place as King. The speech Creon gave was his argument against Oedipus’ assumptions. In the tragic play, Oedipus Rex, rhetorical questions, personification, and metaphors are employed to demonstrate how the author, Sophocles, portrayed Creon as an argumentative, logical character, in contrast to Oedipus. …show more content…
“How should despotic rule seem sweeter to me than painless power and an assured authority?” (Creon, lines 666-667) emphasizes Creon’s persuasive attitude towards Oedipus as he tried to help him understand his intentions. Creon’s point was put across to Oedipus by conveying a rhetorical question that proved being a member of the royal family with all the perks of being King was more than enough to satisfy him and proved he was not a threat. “Why should I let all this go to win that?” Creon was not asking this to receive an answer from Oedipus, but to help Oedipus grasp that being King was not a position he desired to fill. Creon expressed his satisfaction with the authority he possessed not being in a position of leadership and had no desire to acquire leadership over Thebes and have more burdens than