The fact that Oidipous claims to cherish his daughters above all else confirms two observations that have already begun to take shape for the audience. First, if he does truly love them, then he should be willing to do anything in his power for their benefit. In particular, he should be concerned with cleansing them of the pollution his family has spread across three generations (or more, if Laios and Iokaste were similarly polluted before they received the injunction to refrain from intercourse). He shows no sign, however, of this concern. What he does display looks more like emotional attachment than love. Secondly, avowing his daughters’ importance to him to be supreme diminishes the importance to him of others, including the gods. Since his relationship with his daughters is based on his own needs, one can see that his emotions betray a dangerous solipsism, for had he shown Apollo the respect due him, it is likely that he would never have placed himself or his daughters in their present plight, and were he now to display the respect due Apollo, he would not wish above all to touch his daughters. This suggests that what he really cherishes above all is the freedom and independence to subordinate everything to his own will, which is directed by his passions, regardless of the cost to others. [Me] [Md] [P] [Dnc] [Mw]