It is striking that the staffperson should point out that Oidipous has need of strength (ῥώμης), for until now he has been thought to be endowed with exceptional mental and psychological strength. The same term was employed when Kreon reported that the bandits who killed Laios did so “not with one strength” (ῥώμῃ, l. 123). The audience knows that statement to have been erroneous; it derived from the sole survivor’s intentionally misleading testimony. Oidipous did in fact kill Laios and his men with one man’s strength. And yet it has become clear that the god’s hand was also at work. Oidipous’s belief that he had the strength to act on his own landed him in a great deal of trouble. Mortal strength and weakness must not be measured without regard for the gods’ support or opposition. [Mpea] [Mpew] [Mw] [Apa]