When the Corinthian identifies the place where he found Oidipous as the mountainous wilderness lying roughly midway between Thebes and Delphi, the locus of crucial events begins to shift from Corinth past Delphi to the place where Oidipous met and killed the man who was almost certainly Laios, and so closer to Thebes and Iokaste, who at this moment is standing only a few feet from him, the significance of which continues to be blocked by his own established patterns of thought and faith in himself. The moment of revelation, anticipated since the play’s opening, must at last be at hand, but what is utterly unexpected about it is how slowly it is unfolding. This affords the audience an opportunity not only to witness the god at work, but to observe this work in minute detail and to note that Oidipous’s mind works even more slowly. [Md] [Ap] [Mp]
Lines 1027-1037
Oidipous: And to what end were you traveling in those parts?684
Corinthian: At that time I was posted to the highland sheepfolds.
Oidipous: You were a shepherd and a nomad for your keep?
Corinthian: And your savior, child, at that very time.685
Oidipous: What injury did I have when you took me in your hands?686
Corinthian: The joints of your feet might bear witness.687
Oidipous: Ah no—why mention this age-old ill? 688
Corinthian: I release you who have pierced tips of feet.689
Oidipous: Great scorn from swaddling clothes I’ve borne.690
Corinthian: And so you were named691 from this fate692 who you are.693
Oidipous: By the gods, by mother or by father? 694 Tell! 695