The Corinthian royal couple's motivation to adopt to remedy their childlessness suggests a parallel with the Theban royal couple that took steps to make itself childless by ordering its child to be left to die in the wilderness. So, where Laios and Iokaste act to avert a prophecy that hinged on their disregard for the god's instructions, the audience may wonder if obedience to a similar injunction did not earn Polybos and Merope the reward of a child. If so, Apollo's use of one and the same child to accomplish both objectives would seem both just and impressively efficient. [Aj]