The Chorus recasts as “one who shares the home” (ξύνοικος) the putatively unknown wretch who is subject to wild and destructive efforts. The word recalls, however, Oidipous’s curse upon Laios’ killer, even if he might share his hearth: οἴκοισιν εἰ ξυνέστιος (l. 249). This echo points up the fact that Laios’ killer has indeed proven to be a sharer of Oidipous’s hearth: himself. The domestic intimacy implied by ξύνοικος thus suggests a new and even more intense manifestation of the previous generations’s blend of lust and resistance to the god. ξύνοικος also echoes the argument made by the priest in his opening speech, that neither tower nor ship has any meaning when bereft of companions (ξυνοικούντων; l. 57). The Chorus’s repetition of the word and the relationship recasts those comments as a riddle: “Who is the fellow dweller whose efforts are wildly destructive, yet without whom life has no meaning, and with whom one cannot help but live? Like the Sphinx’s riddle, the solution of this riddle bears on the interrelated definitions of mortal and god. Because mortal efforts to resist the gods are wildly destructive, the gods are compelled to respond with efforts of their own to bring unspeakable destruction down on mortals’ heads, including the emptying of a city. Just as Oidipous is now entering upon a new life bereft of all companionship, Athenian hegemony is dissolving while its towers and ships rapidly empty of fellow citizens. That there is nothing that Oidipous can do to avert his terrible fate will prompt the audience to wonder about its own options. As it recognizes and addresses this concern, however, Athens is unlike the citizenry of Thebes, for in framing rhetorical rather than genuine questions, the Chorus reveals that it has not yet considered its rulers to be responsible for the sufferings to which they are being subjected. Rather than condemning Oidipous for his errors, the Chorus laments his sufferings. If Athens is to find in the fate of Oidipous and Thebes any indication of a path to its own salvation, it must assume responsibility for the predicament in which it finds itself and it must hold its leadership accountable for their missteps. [Mpea] [Mpei] [Mw] [Aj] [Mg]