Oidipous retorts to Kreon’s dogged insistence upon a second consultation that it is absurd to consult with the god about a “loser” (ἀνδρὸς ἀθλίου) like himself. By making this disparaging comment Oidipous is in one sense humbling himself; on the other hand, he does this in order to undermine Kreon’s position and thus to support his own presumption that he knows better what must be done and even what is of importance to the god, thereby revealing himself to be far from humble. By contrast, Kreon’s insistence on consulting the Oracle reveals genuine humility, a necessary condition for recourse to the god’s direction. Without it one may pose questions of the Pythia but utterly fail to produce salutary results, precisely what happened at Oidipous’s visit to Delphi, which resulted in his murdering his father, fathering children with his mother, and polluting the city he ruled. When a consultation with the Oracle is not accompanied by a willingness to ask what must be done and then to do precisely as instructed, the results can be disastrous. [Md] [Mip]