Despite the sense that the god is an agent of Thebes’ suffering, the city cannot be said to perish “godlessly” (ἀθέως); if Apollo is the plague’s author, then clearly he is taking a decided interest in this city and involving himself in its fate. The spectator might wonder, then, if the observation of godlessness applies to the city’s apparent abandonment by the gods or to Thebes’ abandonment of the gods. The case is complicated by the fact that the city has been displaying its piety by visiting its gods’ altars to offer incense and prayer. The issue, then, is to discover what the city might have done to provoke the gods’ anger. The dramatic performance engages its Athenian audience in an investigation of just this question, not only in regard to Thebes, but also in regard to itself and its apparent abandonment by the gods. If it entertains the premise that “godless” is that city alone in whose destiny the god takes no hand, the Athenian audience may find a wayto reassess its perception that Apollo, making known through the Oracle at Delphi that he will assist Sparta in its war against Athens, shuns Athens. Apollo appears rather to be working towards a just outcome. If he is acting towards Athens as he acts towards Oidipous, then he has not at all abandoned Athens. Rather, Athens seems presently to bear the brunt of Apollo’s fully focused, albeit wrathful, attention stemming from the ciy’s abandonment of him. [Gt-a] [P] [Aj]