The prompt in δύστανος is repeated when he calls himself τλάμων, but this word carries two divergent meanings: “suffering” and “daring,” the second of which came to the fore earlier, when Oidipous asked the herdsman whether the mother “dared” to order her baby’s destruction (l. 1175). Oidipous could presently have either or both meanings in mind; certainly he is suffering, but he might by now also recognize that this is due to his daring to oppose the god’s prophecy and so to invite, even necessitate, his destruction at the god’s hand. The audience is keen to know whether Oidipous has at last begun to comprehend the nature of his error, for its judgment of him depends upon this. Indeed, it will now appear to the audience a further impiety to attribute misery to misfortune or the animosity of others, including the gods, rather than acknowledging his own intellectual and moral error. The passive voice expressing the feeling of being carried about with no sense of direction seems utterly genuine but equally unacceptable; Oidipous has directed every step of his own journey, even to the point of insisting upon self-direction at the expense of his relationship with a god whose help he had gone some lengths to seek. [P] [Mpea] [Md] [Mw]