Skēptron in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex

In Sophocles’ Oedipus Coloneus, after laying hands on Antigone and Ismene, Creon ridicules Oedipus by saying these words (OC 848–9): οὔκουν ποτ’ ἐκ τούτοιν γε μὴ σκήπτροιν ἔτι ὁδοιπορήσῃς. Then you shall never more walk with the aid of these two props! It is possible that Creon is here alluding to Oedipus’ actual appearance throughout the play. As far as we know, Oedipus comes on stage with no walking stick, and uses Antigone and Ismene as a crutch while walking. Creon’s comparing Oedipus’ daughters to a crutch, however, is also metaphorical. Such a metaphor is quite common in some modern languages (for example in Italian, ‘bastone della vecchiaia’, or in French, ‘bâton de vieillesse’), but was known by ancient Greek poetry as well. In Euripides’ Hecuba, for instance, Hecuba depicts her daughter Polyxena as her crutch (281 βάκτρον). In this case, however, Creon’s choice of words seems significant. Instead of using βάκτρον—as we will see, the most common term to define a walking stick in tragedy—or one of its cognates, Oedipus’ brother-in-law chooses σκῆπτρον, a word highly relevant in this context. σκῆπτρον is not just a common staff but the staff of the king and, by extension, the symbol of his power. Throughout the tragedy, the term recurs with this metaphorical value: the plural σκῆπτρα defines the power which Eteocles and Polyneices are fighting for (Soph. OC 425, 449, 1354). By defining Oedipus’ daughters as metaphorical σκῆπτρα, then, Creon seems to allude maliciously to Oedipus’ former status of king and to his subsequent downfall. Oedipus, as king, once had an actual sceptre, while now he has only his two daughters acting as a beggar’s walking sticks.