By “these parents” Oidipous means his natural parents, yet those are the ones whose identity should be in doubt, since he went to Delphi to inquire about it. From the moment, however, that he received the prophecy meant to answer this question, he has consistently treated the matter as decided. To the audience, on the other hand, his assumption seems absurd, because if “these parents” are not Polybos and Merope, he need have no fear for what might transpire between him and them. They are his first concern. It does not occur to him to worry what the consequences might be if they are not his birth parents. Instead, he seems to warm to his own point of view as he hears it reflected back to him by the “ambassador,” who has assumed the role of a therapist working to allay a patient’s imagined fears by reflecting them back to the patient and so providing him or her an opportunity to view them from a fresh perspective. Once the object of fear has been acknowledged and brought into the open, it can be regarded more objectively. Here Oidipous is opening up to the Corinthian, who seeks to comfort him by assuring him that his fears are groundless. Since the audience knows that his fears are legitimate, it can see that the therapeutic intent cannot succeed. This situation calls not for psychological treatment or comforting but correction of the error of thinking that one knows one’s own circumstances and how to deal with them better than any god. This belief threatens to destroy the basis for meaningful communication between mortals and gods; this loss is truly to be feared. [Md] [Mpea] [Mi] [Dnp]