Oidipous argues that by seeing to Iokaste’s burial Kreon will in any case be acting correctly, properly, or justly (ὀρθῶς) on behalf “of your own” (τῶν σῶν), yet the plural possessive will prompt the audience to wonder whom this includes. If he had referred only to a single person, it would of course be Iokaste, but the plural must include others in addition, such as his sister’s children. These include, however, her first-born Oidipous as well as the children born of their incestuous union. Thus, Oidipous’s argument serves to underscore the difficulty–perhaps even impossibility–of acting “properly” in this matter. Given the pollution of all familial relationships touched by Oidipous, and given also Kreon’s new role as the city’s ruler, Kreon must concern himself with the contamination of all those even distantly touched by the family’s problematic predilections. These include not only Thebes’ general population, but even the gods whose sacred places lie within and around the city, for an improper burial might contaminate the burial ground and the city as a whole. Thus Oidipous’s insistence that that Kreon should act on behalf of “his own,” as if this limited his task and made it easier, only draws attention to the inadequacy of Oidipous’s conception of the complexity and vulnerability of relations among the members of Kreon’s family, the town, and its gods. The audience is likely to agree with Kreon, then, that he must consult Delphi before deciding upon a course of action. [Mpei] [Mpea] [D] [Mipd]