Apollo is called upon to shoot his arrows in assistance, yet the audience will have envisioned the plague itself as arrows from Apollo’s quiver. Thus the Chorus seems to be enlisting plague’s author to use the same instrument by which he delivered plague to remove it. The Chorus thus once again appears to be speaking from the limited perspective of its own ignorance regarding the plague’s causes. [Mpei] In this regard Thebes is again like Athens—the Athenians may not know the origin of their plague, but they can reasonably presume it to be Apollo. The audience will thus realize that if Apollo has loosed plague upon Athens, he is unlikely to end the plague simply because the town’s citizens now ask it of him; the town must first cleanse itself of the pollution that brought his plague-bearing arrows in the first place. This will entail the righting of wrongs in the commission of which the city can be presumed to have participated. In Thebes the process of cleansing is already underway, and the extent and success of these efforts can perhaps give the Athenian audience some idea of what may be required of it. A prayer like this one, based as it is on ignorance and confusion, can hardly be expected to be efficacious; the populace should concentrate its efforts on a course of action laid out by the god. Athens, then, like Thebes, must begin by seeking clarification and instructions from Apollo, and it must, like Oidipous, commit itself to act at his direction. [Mpea] [Ap] [Mip]