Because it follows immediately on information that he attributes to the god, Kreon’s truism may be supposed to have been uttered by the Delphic Oracle. It should in that case be read as an injunction that the god backs with both a promise and a threat: “If you search for whatever you need to find, I will see that you are successful. On the other hand, if you neglect this search, I will place the solution out of reach.” Until now, no search has been made for Laios’ killer, and consequently, the god has inflicted the city with a plague for which no cure can be found. Since this is expressed as a general truth, however, the force of the god’s message can also apply to situations beyond Thebes’ plague and the present search for Laios’ killer. It may, for example, also apply to the situation in an Athens faced by plague and war. If Athens is to rid itself of the plague it must, like Thebes, conduct a search for the source of pollution, and to discover the nature of the polluting act, Athens should, like Oidipous, seek clarification from the god by arranging for a consultation at Delphi. The god’s words to Thebes seem already, however, to have some bearing on Athens, because just as the aphorism binds the god to the promised outcome pursuant to the application of appropriate human effort, the god, when consulted at Delphi by a Spartan embassy, is reported to have bound himself to aiding Sparta to defeat Athens in the following terms: “if they fought with all their might, victory would be theirs, and [Apollo] himself would be on their side, whether they invoked him or not.” The play thus sets into mythic context an oracular statement bearing on the Athenian audience ca. 429 BC. The aphoristic statement carried by Kreon from Delphi to Thebes thus projects the legendary past being presented by the drama into the historical present. However, where the outcome of the historic prophecy still hangs in the balance, the outcome of the mythic prophecy is already known, and the parallel between the two will thus have suggested to the Athenian audience that the prophecy pertaining to its city will also be fulfilled, regardless of its best efforts to the contrary, unless it takes the course of action it sees being pursued in Thebes. This process begins with obtaining direction from the god. The assurances given both the Spartans and Oidipous suggest that if Athens should proceed in accordance with Delphic instruction, the god will provide the aid it seeks. [Gt-a] [Mip] [Mw] [Ad] [Apaon]