While some view Oedipus to be acting justly, he is in fact acting in an opposite manner; Oedipus has a deeply flawed character as highlighted through three examples of repetition from his conversation with Creon.

Repetition is largely useless for the conventional purposes of conversation; as far as exposition is concerned, repetition does not add important details to plot. Repetition from Oedipus is indicative of an emotional outbreak: “Don’t tell me you’re not the enemy, the traitor” (Sophocles 614), here, Oedipus adds rhetorical emphasis on “enemy," trying to hide his emotions by increasing his repetition and, by extension, his volume.

Oedipus’s illogical repetition indicates that he is controlled by his emotions. One only repeats things for emphasis, a very emotional action. When accusing Creon of treachery Oedipus exudes panic through his emotional display: "[Y]ou spun out your plot? / Your Treachery" (600-1). His repetition of the meaning of mutiny implies a physical break because of the high level of mental stress he is under. This stress causes

Oedipus to stutter. Oedipus is so lacking in understanding that he must take a moment to calm himself down and literally take a breath. Even Creon recognizes that the King is emotionally imbalanced: “Look, if you think crude, mindless stubbornness / such a gift, you've lost your sense of balance” (615-6). Creon’s exposition on

Oedipus’s character is accurate in that it addresses his “mindless stubbornness” and his lost balance. These two excerpts highlight the fact that Oedipus is letting his emotions guide his judgment into a state of imbalance. The repetition of the negative aspects of his character as shown in “crude” and “stubbornness” project a view of a wicked man. It is this projection of Oedipus that encapsulates the source of the king's immoral behavior.

In Oedipus the King, when Creon defends himself against Oedipus’ paranoid accusations, Sophocles employs techniques of rhetorical argument, convincing tone, and effective diction. Sophocles employs logical argument to strike down Oedipus’ claims of treason, thoroughly explaining why he would never want to be king. Sophocles affords Creon a very stern tone but a very sensible argument. Creon asks Oedipus many rhetorical questions that support his point. He has given extensive consideration to reservations about not wanting the throne. First, Creon explains he would lose the peace he currently enjoys if he wore the crown, only to exercise the authority he already possesses as the king’s brother-in-law. Creon then reflects on the multitude of obligations he would face as king. Creon’s brief pause at the end of line 661 indicates a moment of imagining the “many painful duties [he would have] to perform” (662). While Creon does not enumerate these duties, he simply says they are “hardly to my taste” (663). Through this simplified diction, Sophocles adds to Creon’s disdain of kingship, further strengthening his argument. Creon then juxtaposes his popularity, saying “Now all men sing my praises, all salute me, / now all who request your favors curry mine. / I am their best hope: success rests in me. / Why give up that, I ask you, and borrow trouble?” (769-771). Creon follows with a logical conclusion proving his thoughts more rational than those of Oedipus: “A man of sense, one who thinks clearly would never resort to treason” (673-674). Creon criticizes Oedipus, simultaneously making a well-supported argument. Sophocles gives Creon strength of diction, stern tone, and eloquent logic to support his argument.

After Oedipus accuses Creon of wanting to betray him, Creon proves to Oedipus that he actually has more reason not to betray him, because he already has all the power he needs. Oedipus believes that Creon is setting him up, because Creon was the only person in contact with Tiresias, who tells Oedipus that he is the plague to the city. Creon provides many reasons to Oedipus that he has no motive to take over his spot. One reason that Creon provides to prove that he has no motive, is that he is “not the one to yearn for kingship, / not with a king’s power in my hands,” explaining to Oedipus that he already has the power of a king in his hands, and that he has no reason to want the kingship for this same reason (657-8). Another reason Creon provides is that, “if I wore the crown… / there’d be many painful duties to perform, / hardly to taste,” further explaining to

Oedipus how he would not benefit from taking over as king because there are many painful responsibilities of the kingship and he does not want to deal with them. The final reason Creon provides to Oedipus is that, “now all men sing my praises, all salute me, / now all who request your favors curry mine. / I am their best hope: success rests in me. / Why give up that, I ask you, and borrow trouble?” (668-71). Through this reasoning Creon explains to Oedipus that he has absolutely no motive to take the spot of king from Oedipus because he already has all the praise of the people, and that he would not want to give that up; he even asks Oedipus why he would even want to give up that kind of power. Creon just outright tells Oedipus that he has absolutely no reason to betray him because, why give up what he already has? These reasons that Creon provides Oedipus not only prove his lack of motive, but that he actually does not want to do it, because he has too much to lose.