When Oidipous says “it is proper that these things be found out,” he will seem to the audience to be far too late, for the details to be obtained from Laios’ erstwhile shepherd pertain to his parentage, the very matter upon which he long ago journeyed from Corinth to Delphi. Having failed properly to understand the oracular response he was given, he immediately did terrible things that then added to the list of things that must be found out. He has ever since lived in ignorance. Now all signs point to a connection between himself and the child born to Laios and Iokaste, and so all signs now help him to interpret what he missed at Delphi. Having rejected what he learned from Delphi, he has now decided to depend upon Laios’ erstwhile shepherd for clarification of the matter on which the Pythia has long since spoken, but whether he hears the truth from him or from Apollo’s own priestess, it will be one and the same truth. Oidipous’s predilections manifest themselves in a peculiar sort of blindness; he cannot or perhaps will not understand what the god reveals to him; consequently, he lives a life of pollution until eventually he is compelled to coax the same information from a variety of human sources, though as the audience can see, these sources all serve as Apollo’s intermediaries. [Apcmu] The matters discovered through inquiry, investigation, and interrogation could have been obtained in a far more timely manner through discourse directly with the god. [Mi] The difference between the two approaches is twofold; on the one hand, interrogation of the god through an appropriate medium offers convenience and efficiency. More important, the god’s pronouncements give timely direction; they are delivered while salubrious action is still a possibility. Discovery through personal experience and investigation may eventually yield accurate insights, but at great pains and too late, for the search for the information they provide is predicated on events that have already occurred. [Mp] Where foresight can prevent a problem from occurring, hindsight is useful primarily for averting repetition of the same error in future. At this point Oidipous’s discovery of the truth can do no more than to demonstrate to others the wisdom of consulting the god first. That Apollo is taking such pains to expose the truth suggests that, while his relationship with Oidipous, like his relationship with Laios and Iokaste, has proven to be unhelpful, he has not given up on building a better relationship with the next generation. [Ad] [Mw]