Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Creon vs. Kreon

I looked up the difference between Creon and Kreon. This is what I found (keep in mind that the Creon in Antigone is the same as the one in Oedipus):

Are they the same?

No, Creon in 'Medea' wasn't the same as Creon in 'Antigone'. In the first case, Creon was the King of Corinth and the father of Princess Creusa. Both father and daughter were killed by Medea, who didn't want to let go of her husband Jason.
In the second case, Creon was the King of Thebes. He also was the father of Megara and thereby father-in-law to Heracles. He was killed by Lycus, who was Nycteus' brother. Nycteus was the father of Nycteis, who married Theban King Polydorus. Their son, Theban King Labdacus, was the father of Theban King Laius, who married Creon's sister Jocasta.

I hope this helps.
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5 comments:

Shaina Lu said...

Yeah this is a good clarification, thanks! I didn't think that Kreon and Creon were the same person but I definitely thought it was interesting that they had similar names. I thought that Kreon/Creon was just a common ancient Greek name. Although the K/C difference may have just been a mistake or something in translation when I saw the difference, i immediately thought it was just like the different spellings today. For example, Karl or Carl and Kathy or Cathy.

September 28, 2011 at 11:25 PM
mere said...

Good point with the Kathy/Cathy example. That's exactly what I think it is. And maybe it was a popular name amongst families of noble rank. I mean think of all the King Henry's...

September 28, 2011 at 11:43 PM
Mallory said...

Its definitely interesting that they have such similar names. It all becomes very confusing even when they dont have the same names. These plays have so many different plot turns and when there are plays based off of a previous play it becomes even harder to make a distinction as in Antigonne.

October 1, 2011 at 7:43 PM
sara pendleton said...

I wonder if Creon/Kreon was a common name back in the day, like "John" or something. In later centuries, many royals were interrelated in Europe and they subsequently named their children after their ancestors (like King Henry the eighth etc.) Maybe, before the Republic, in the early days of kings there were similar cases, maybe not, just a thought.

October 1, 2011 at 10:44 PM
Ravin S said...

Yes, I'd agree with the other girls that it must have been just a common name amongst noblemen. It could also have been a "borrowed" name from another writer. Just has how Odysseus is used in The Aenied, but has his name changed. The authors, I don't believe, are plagerising but simply adding to the already known myths, but in their own way. Just as Euripides tells the myth of Jason from Medea's angle.

October 1, 2011 at 11:11 PM

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