Taken in sequence following the three Olympians just addressed, the Chorus now seems to be addressing itself to Ares, although the epithet “raging” makes him seem an unlikely source of help. Where Athena, Artemis, and Apollo are “death averters,” Ares is “the destroyer.” This makes it hard to understand what role the Chorus envisions for him regarding the plague, and Thebes is any case not at war. Athens, however, is. So, while the Athenian audience may infer that Thebes is desperately imploring every god to come to its aid, it would also look to itself and its embrace of war. The odd thing is that Apollo has already given Kreon explicit instructions, in light of which the Chorus’s continued beseeching of the gods seems out of place. Would not the reasonable approach be to submit to the performance of any instructions the god may give? In this regard, Athens might find Thebes slow to find the proper course of action. Until, that is, Athens realizes that it, far more than Thebes, has been utterly rejecting the proposal to seek instruction from Delphic Apollo. [P] [Mw] [Mip]