As the sentence reaches its conclusion it becomes clear that Oidipous is expressing, albeit in a strangely convoluted way, his surprise at Kreon’s magnanimity, for in describing himself as being “torn away” from his expectation of being shunned, Oidipous implicitly accuses Kreon of nevertheless still doing him violence. While this undermines his characterization of Kreon as “the best man” and himself as “the worst,” it shows that even in his degraded state Oidipous can be gracious, at least to a fellow mortal. [Md] Where he earlier groundlessly abused Kreon, he now betrays no animosity towards the man who has taken his place. [Mpea]