The Chorus has asked the gods to come in aid against the plague by banishing Ares, yet Oidipous treats their requests as if they had been directed straight to him. Not that he necessarily views himself as a god, but as from the outset, absent a god on the scene, he feels himself called upon to respond to the pleas of his people. Prayer, for him, seems to be a rhetorical flourish; the gods are but a figure of speech, an eloquent conceit to enable the populace to give appropriate expression to needs that must be dealt with by their ruler. Given the audience’s contrary awareness that the gods are intensively engaged at present, Oidipous’s attitude disrepects all gods. [Mpea] [Md] [P]