When asked to choose between identifying the infant as his own or someone else’s, the herdsman first seems to affirm the former, but then to correct himself: “Mine—not.” Then he seems about to mention a name, but offers up only an unaccented του; “I got it from . . . somebody.” Thus he answers each question accurately while seeing to it that Oidipous’s investigation makes no more than minimal headway. This should exasperate Oidipous, and it certainly will frustrate the audience, for there is nothing to be gained from delay; the truth must come out. The delay indicates that the herdsman has yet to accept this inevitability. Even though he has been made to see that his own actions enabled the god to realize his prophecy concerning Laios, this has not yet translated into an appreciation of his personal relationship to the god; he appears not to have recognized the god’s influence in his life. [Md] [Mpei] [Dnc] [Dnp]