The Corinthian interrupts Oidipous’s foundering interrogation of the Theban herdsman in order to provide some support. His enthusiasm for Oidipous’s interrogation stems as the audience knows from his conviction that the herdsman’s testimony will free Oidipous from his fears and thus restore him to Corinth. The audience also knows, however, that rather than aiding Oidipous by disabusing him of his fears, the herdsman’s testimony, if he gives it, will deliver a blow so devastating as to render the question of Oidipous’s return to Corinth irrelevant. In this respect the Corinthian is like Oidipous in pursuing a project that cannot possibly succeed as he foresees it; he cannot see that his motives and the actions that follow from them serve a greater and more complex plan constructed and managed by Apollo. [Mpei] [Apa]