Oidipous declares the god’s directive to be, in essence, superfluous; men should in any case investigate the murder. He thus dismisses the god’s intervention. Yet Oidipous as ruler let years pass without concerning himself with his predecessor’s demise. The plague, not Oidipous (or any other mortal), has been instrumental in promoting the present investigation, and as the god has indicated, the plague resulted from pollution, from uncleanliness, if Oidipous is right, stemming from the king’s unpunished murder. It is again Oidipous who points out, however, that he has ruled since then. Having had charge of the city he must bear some responsibility for the defilement resulting from the city’s inaction. Thus, he both dismisses the god’s essential role and ignores his own responsibility. It is in fact both his own failure to assume responsibility for the city’s purification and his improper relations to Laios, to the queen, and to the city that necessitate the god’s intervention. [P] [Mpe] [Dn] [Ad]