The Chorus Leader, a mute witness throughout Teiresias’ss appearance on stage, now reveals that the Chorus has been weighing the words of the seer against those of its ruler, for the conflict between them requires a judgment as to which is more likely to be right. The Chorus judges, however, that this determination is in any case of no importance, because even greater attention needs to be given to the god’s response, by which it presumably means the prophecy brought by Kreon from Delphi. The audience, on the other hand, can see that the speech of both Teiresias and Oidipous also pertains directly to the god’s project. This suggests that the god is communicating through a variety of media if one but knows how to interpret what one hears. This applies to the chorus’s present comment as well, for while it seems to give prudent expression to an appropriately pious attitude, its wording is awkwardly ordered. Translating literally: “It is necessary not of these [men and their claims], but how the god’s prophetic messages we are best to fulfill (λύσομεν), this to examine.” This draws a strong distinction between words of mortals, even of prophets, and the discharge of obligation to the god. The chorus indicates its own submission to the god’s will and conveys to its wrangling leaders the suggestion that they ought to do likewise. In situations when the city’s seers and leaders—secular and religious– are at odds with one another, they and the city would do best to maintain a focus on the fulfillment of instructions delivered by prophecy. Interpretive clarification must bear upon the premise that the god’s words are meant to direct action. [Mipd] [Apama] [Apcmu] [Apcma] [P]