Believing that Teiresias means only to refuse to help, Oidipous’s anger flares and prompts him to call Teiresias the “lowest of the low.” Just moments before, however, he described himself and the Theban citizenry as groveling dog-like before the prophet. In the span of only moments Oidipous has reversed his view of these relationships, suggesting that his humility was only a rhetorical flourish. While he describes himself as a “stone,” he is anything but slow to anger. Anger causes him to misjudge the prophet, the god, his circumstances, and even himself. The audience can see that, where he thinks that the blockage in communication stems solely from the prophet, in fact it stems from his own false assumptions and quick temper. [P] [Mea] [Md]