275.0

While Oidipous is now sincerely imprecating the gods to aid his people, the fact that divine action precedes his utterance reveals to the audience Apollo’s initiative—he is already delivering the help that Oidipous seeks. This suggests that Oidipous fails fully to appreciate either the god’s disposition or the god’s power even as he calls upon the god to exercise it. Considering the justice that is already being delivered to both Oidipous and Thebes, it would appear that the failure fully to appreciate the god’s power is itself a most serious offense against the god. [Mpei] [Aj] [Ap] [Ad]