The herdsman’s refusal to speak is troubling, for he knows that the unresolved regicide, parricide, and incest have polluted the town, yet he has willfully ignored the consequences of this pollution ever since he asked to be posted as far as possible from the palace. Perhaps he did not believe that the pollution would manifest itself in anything as dire as plague, but as a herdsman he would have been among those first affected when his sheep failed to give birth to spring lambs. His silence seems thus to bespeak insufficient concern for the common good and wilfull ignorance that the god’s hand is at work. [Mpei] [Md] [P] If Thebes’ wellbeing were of primary importance to him, or if he realized that the god’s involvement was inexorable, he would work quickly to end the present impasse. [Mw] That he does not do so suggests that his concern not to discomfit his ruler and, perhaps, his apprehension of the consequences he can expect to be made to suffer by his displeased ruler have for years been leading him to make a very costly error. By the same token, the god’s implacability suggests his unerring recognition of necessity and an unswerving commitment to the city’s wellbeing. [Ad] [Ap]