In response to Oidipous’s final word, which expresses yet another attempt at control and self-assertion, Kreon observes that Oidipous, now out of power, still seeks to exercise the control he once had, even though that did not work for him then. Kreon bases his personal administrative style on an alternative principle: restraint and modesty. [Mg] [P] In his view, it is crucial to know what one cannot control, and where one knows control to be impossible, not to try to exercise it, but rather to turn for direction to the Oracle at Delphi. [Mpei] [Mip] But surely Kreon cannot mean to send to Delphi for direction in every administrative matter. One can only surmise that his deference to Delphi in this instance stems from Apollo’s unquestionable interest in Oidipous and the obvious implications this has for Thebes. The city is polluted not only by contact with Oidipous but by the extent to which it shares in his impiety, as exemplified by the suppliants at the play’s opening allowing themselves to be satisfied to receive Oidipous as the answer to their prayers just as they had years before accepted him as the solution to the problem of their murdered king. Athens ought to regard itself as similarly polluted by its belief that it can accept its present rulers’ ideas as the best solution to plague and war. The plague should be regarded, rather, as a clear signal of the god’s ire. [Apcon] The best response to such a signal is for Athens to concern itself with discovering both the nature of its misdeeds and the means by which it can cleanse itself of their polluting influence. This it would best accomplish by sending to Delphi to inquire of the god. [Mipd]