The Oedipus trilogy was written by Sophocles in the 5th century B.C. The plays follow the mythical King Oedipus of Thebes and his descendants. The audiences in those days were well aware of these mythical stories. Two main characters in the play, Creon and Oedipus, are considered tragic heroes. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, said that tragic heroes maintain the sympathy of the audience to the end. Creon does not keep this sympathy, but Oedipus does. Creon does evoke some sympathy from the audience, but his frequent descent into rashness and hate turn the audience away from his cause.

One thing that does not earn a character any sympathy is being overly rash and angry. Creon failed to earn any sympathy on these points in the story. He threatens to kill a sentry who delivered a message to Creon if he did not find out who buried Polynices...