Directing the herdsman to look him in the eye, Oidipous demands honesty and implies confidence in his own ability to detect a lie. He further indicates that he is not to be trifled with. No trace of hesitation or uncertainty can be detected in him. In contrast with his earlier interrogations of Kreon and Teiresias, when he was in the dark and attempting to solve the riddle of Laios’ murder, he now proceeds as if anticipating that the witness might either demure or prevaricate. He is proceeding as would a prosecutor who is convinced of the defendant’s guilt and has on the stand either the defendant himself or a witness friendly to him. That he already has a clear idea of what it is that he requires the witness to reveal means that he has a clear idea of all events and actions pertinent to the case. This should mean that he knows himself to be the son of Laios and Iokaste but anticipates that the herdsman will not easily be made to admit it. Since Oidipous is proceeding on the basis of his own guilt, the audience may be impressed by his integrity, but at the same time, since he has no jury to persuade other than himself, the punctiliousness of his procedure seems to miss the point and thus to denigrate the proceedings. If he knows that he is the son of Laios and Iokaste, then he knows that he has killed his father and married his mother. If he knows these things, then he knows that prophecy has been proven right. If he knows that, then he knows that the god is capable of making good on his word. And if he knows this, he should now recognize his own fault and impiety in challenging the god and humbly acknowledge the god’s superiority. [Mp] [Md] [P] His persistence in adhering to his own course of action indicates that his resistance to humble submission is so profound as to require forcible correction by the god. [Apa] Just as he uses his legal skills to compel a witness whom he presumes to be unwilling to speak the truth, the god uses divine powers to compel this ruler whom he knows to be unwilling to accept the truth. [Aj]