What is the relationship between the curse Oedipus lays upon Laius' murder and Creon's statement that he doesn't speak idle words?

Answer 1

That a most serious and sobering curse may end up being directed and carried out against the very speaker of such words is the reason why Theban King Creon says that Theban King Oedipus' cursing statement isn't made up of idle words. The Oracle at Apollo's shrine says that the pestilence that ravages the Theban population, livestock and crops may be stopped only by the identification and punishment of the murderer or murderers of Theban King Laius. Oedipus promises that the manhunt and the sentence of execution or exile will be carried out even should the person or persons responsible be found within his own household.

Ironically, Oedipus ends up being the very person whom he himself must seek. So he ends up having to hand himself over to harsh sentencing. Because of his curse, no allowance is made for the lack of knowledge or intent on his part when he unknowingly kills his own father and sovereign, or when he just as unknowingly weds and beds his own mother.

The contrast between these statements sets up Creon as a foil for Oedipus and highlights Oedipus's hamartia.