The stranger concludes his series of questions about Oidipous’s motives for exiling himself from Corinth by posing what seems to be a rhetorical question: “Why, since I came with good intent, did I not relieve you of [your] fear?” If he did come with good intent he is in this regard just like Oidipous, who also once came from Corinth disposed to relieve Thebes of its woes. [Md] The stranger’s intent is of course doomed to fall short, for rather than relieving Oidipous he must be about to pitch him over the brink of the most terrible truth. At the same time, he directs the audience to realize a facet of the same terrible truth, for if one cannot rely upon one’s own sincere intentions as a guide to action, upon what can one depend? [Mpei] Is there any alternative to the conviction that any act might well lead to catastrophe and that there is no way at all of discerning what will bring health, vigor, and soundness from what will bring sickness, weakness, and depravity? [Mw] Given that the force that negates the stranger’s intent, the same force that has negated Oidipous’s intent, is Apollo, the answer to what leads to catastrophe and what to good fortune lies with him. [Apa] [Mi]