King of Thebes in the age of Heracles: after the hero broke the Minyans of Orchomenus and lifted their tribute on the city, Creon gave him his eldest daughter Megara as a prize of valour and his younger daughter to Iphicles — not to be confused with Creon king of Corinth in the Jason saga.1
In the generation of Heracles, Creon ruled Thebes when Erginus and the Minyans still exacted tribute from the city. After Heracles overthrew them — in the fight Amphitryon fell fighting bravely — Creon rewarded the champion with his eldest daughter Megara and gave his younger daughter to Iphicles, who already had a son Iolaus by Automedusa, daughter of Alcathus. Homer presupposes this house when Odysseus sees Megara, daughter of Creon, among the wives of heroes in Hades.2
When King Laius was murdered on the road, Creon assumed the regency of Thebes. Under his rule, the city was terrorized by the Sphinx, until Oedipus arrived to solve its riddle. Creon gratefully surrendered the throne and the hand of his sister Jocasta to the young hero.3
After the terrible truth of Oedipus' marriage was revealed, and the ensuing civil war between Eteocles and Polynices left both brothers dead, Creon once again took the reins of power. He issued a harsh edict that the traitors' bodies must be left unburied.4
His inflexible decree led to the tragic death of his niece Antigone, which in turn caused the suicides of his son Haemon and his wife Eurydice, leaving Creon an old, broken king surrounded by the ruins of his house.5
⁂
the spine ignites as you read · hover a bond on the card — every mention of them lights in the story
