Imagining the perpetrator to be resident in the palace and present at his own hearth, Oidipous continues his exploration of every possible avenue except the correct one. The audience can observe the procession of his thoughts and measure their increasing accuracy as he focuses his investigation upon the rather limited number of individuals who live in close physical proximity to himself. Acknowledging the possibility that the perpetrator may be found among his own family and friends, Oidipous displays his adherence to a code of justice that permits no distinction or privilege for anyone, yet his continuing failure to consider his own possible role in Laios’ demise reveals the granting of a kind of privilege based on the false assumption that he cannot himself be the cause of error or pollution. He appears to be at once noble and ignoble, just and unjust. [Mpea] [Md] [Mg]