When Oidipous asks his daughters to imagine themselves coming home from the festivals in tears in place of the spectacle (ἀντὶ τῆς θεωρίας), his awkward expression may seem rather to mean that they will take the place of the primary object of the crowd’s attention; they will become subjects of dramatic interest, precisely as is happening now in the Theater of Dionysos. Their tears will be (and are) those of the tragic subject. Their miserable position will (and has) become an object lesson for later generations. Their reality will (and has) become myth. Staged as theater (θεωρία), the myth centering on the Theban ruling family attributes itself to an actual occurrence of which it is an accurate reenactment. As Oidipous weeps, he and his offspring become at once subjects and objects of tragic suffering. As the Athenian audience weeps for them, its biological, political, and philosophical offspring stand likewise to become both subjects and objects of pity in a distant time when current events will be re-presented as θεωρία. At that moment Athens will no longer be seated around the stage; it will be refused admission to the representation of its own misfortunes. In alienating its allies, Athens is beginning the process of alienating itself from its own festivals, because it is alienating itself from the gods whom its festivals are meant to honor. Or it may be, that in alienating itself from its gods (such as Delphic Apollo), Athens cannot help but alienate itself from its allies. Either way, the alienation of one entails the alienation of the other, and either way, Athens is left in isolation. [P] [Mj] [Mg] [Mw]