When the Chorus describes Iokaste as “wretched” (δυστάλαινα) as it inquires into the manner of her death, the audience brings to bear its more nuanced understanding that her miseries are of her own making; her death was a consequence of the philosophy according to which she lived. A philosophy that justifies impiety can be expected to bring misery, because if there are gods, if those gods have any power to act in the mortal domain, and if those gods have any interest in creating or maintaining a working relationship with mortals (which they must if they are to be more than mere immortals), they must demonstrate that impiety will inevitably lead to mortal suffering. [Apa] [Ad] [P] [Aj] [Mw] [Dnc]