Characterizing the seer’s statements pertaining to the god as ἐξευρήματα (“discoveries”) Oidipous must be using sarcasm, for he clearly does not believe that Teiresias has made any discovery at all, but rather that Teiresias is engaging in the rhetoric of counter-intimidation. This skepticism is striking because Oidipous summoned the seer with the expectation of benefitting from the seer’s privileged relationship with the god. Coming from any ordinary man, the statement that one’s fate lies in a god’s hands might have the ring of a proverb, but Teiresias’s specific mention of Apollo coupled with the audience’s awareness that Apollo is presently at work to realize his prophecies strongly suggests that the seer’s statement is based on direct personal knowledge. Thus, the word ἐξευρήματα will seem to the audience to point at discoveries in which the audience may share; namely, that the god is concerned with mortals’ lives, is able to communicate with mortals via seers and prophets and has the means to realize his prophetic word. By taking a facetious tone Oidipous makes his own certitude ridiculous and pitiable. [Gd] [Mpei] [Mpea] [Apcma] [Ad]
As he rejects the authenticity of Teiresias’s insights, Oidipous infers that his accusations are fabrications either of Teiresias himself or some other man, and it is surprising how quickly he begins working this new angle by lighting upon Kreon. The rapidity with which he accepts this new supposition is a sign of how profoundly incapable he is of considering the possibility that the seer tells the truth. [Mpea] [Md]