The herdsman’s words provide a more precise formulation than Oidipous’s and may therefore be more in keeping with the god’s requirements: better that the herdsman die the moment he has served his purpose. So where Oidipous’s speech grows more confused as it expresses his frustrations, the herdsman’s speech seems to come more into line with the needs of Apollo, who appears to be speaking through the herdsman to remedy the imprecision in Oidipous’s language. If divine speech has the reputation for obscurity, this exchange seems to demonstrate the opposite to be the case. Any obscurity perceived in the god’s utterances should perhaps better be attributed to their mortal recipients. [Mipd] [Apcm]