The Chorus asks what could be added to what it already knows; namely, that Oidipous killed Laios, Thebes’ king, also his father, married his mother, produced children with her, and is now bound by his own edict to be exiled or killed. The audience already knows that this story is likely to end with Iokaste’s suicide. It is also possible (if Sophocles follows Aeschylus) that Oidipous will blind himself. But surely these deeds hardly add to the misfortunes of which the Chorus already knows. What the Chorus does not yet understand is the implications of the deeds: that they, along with the plague, were orchestrated by Apollo in response both to the ruling family’s attempt to render prophecy meaningless and to the city’s willingness to treat its rulers as though they were gods. As a result, Thebes as a whole will be made to suffer beyond the expected resolution of the current crisis; the plague may soon end, but the next generation of Thebans is to be caught up in war and internal strife. The same can be prognosticated for Athens; even if the plague comes to an end, as long as the city maintains its independence from the gods by challenging prophecy, warfare and internal strife will continue to wear at the city until its vitality is utterly dissipated. The history of Athens will be patterned on that of Thebes, a city that in ancient times was great but that at the time of the play’s production has been reduced to relative insignificance. That is what is worse. [P] [Aj] [Apa] [Gt-a] [Mw]