In contrasting Oidipous’s opinion of him with that of Oidipous’s parents, Teiresias seems to have a specific incident in mind. On what occasion was it that they believed his counsel to be sound? The only incident of which the audience can have any knowledge is the myth according to which a seer thrice warned Laios not to have children, for if he did, his offspring would be his death. Where Aeschylus’ version of the myth attributes the thrice-delivered prophecy to the oracle at Delphi, Teiresias’ss comment here suggests either that it was he who delivered the to Laios and Okaste the prohibition on marital intercourse between them or that his prophecies also mentioned that matter. [Gm] Either way, since he is now affirming the respect in which Laios and Okaste held his prophetic word, he cannot be referring to their heeding the prohibition, but rather their dread of the threatened [Mpei] [Mi] [Apcma] [Mg]
consequence, which moved them to expose their infant son to the elements so that he might die. Thus, where the seer puts them forward as an example of respect for his words, they in fact seem to have held the same false belief held by their son, that the god’s words could be gotten around. The seer’s mysterious reference to his relationship with Oidipous’s parents throws all these actions into an ambivalent light. They present the audience with an enigma or even a riddle: How can one both respect and disrespect a prophet of Apollo? The consequences of this ambivalence seems to have been destruction for both generations. [Md] [Mpea] [Mw]