When Oidipous rejects Kreon as a “bad friend” the audience will understand him to say “bad kin,” thus pointing to the way in which relationships can pollute one another. As before in this play, however, the word κακός has a special resonance; it reminds the audience of Oidipous’s declaration that he will not be found “base,” “remiss,” or “ignominious” for not doing everything the god specifies. Here he casts these negative qualities onto Kreon, which prompts the audience to assess the accuracy of this characterization for itself. The audience will find that the pollution of relationships is not Kreon’s as much as it is his sister’s and both of his brothers-in-law and in all cases related to prophecies specifying what is and what is not to be done. [Md] The problem seems to lie in proper interpretation of prophecy and proper conduct based on that interpretation. [Mipd]