Now again Oidipous utters a curse to invoke the god as his ally, and yet again the audience will understand that the god’s engagement is not consequent upon Oidipous’s calling for it. The fact that the gods appear already to be at work prior to Oidipous’s invocation demonstrates rather that they in fact need neither exhortation nor invitation, and so the curse is presumptuous, for it indicates that Oidipous grants himself a prerogative that he should not claim—the capacity to set the very gods in motion. This may prompt the audience to recall that prophecy assured the Spartan embassy to Delphi that the god would assist Sparta even uninvited (ἄκλητος).” [Gt-a] In neither case does divine action depend upon mortal direction. In relation to Oidipous, it is clear that through his present actions the god is making good on his own prophecies. In relation to Sparta, one might suppose that the god promised to intervene not because that was what Sparta desired but because it furthered Apollo’s own agenda derived from Apollo’s own judgment. [Apamu] [Mi] [Aj]