Okaste addresses Oidipous and Kreon together, labeling them together as ταλαίποροι, which might mean either men who bear pain or men who bring pain. If she means “men who bear pain,” then she might be referring to the burdens under which they labor in their efforts to serve the city, and if she means “men who bring pain” she would be referring to the additional weight that their strife places upon the burden of suffering already borne by the city. As the city’s polluter, Oidipous is a bringer of terrible suffering. As one whose name is soon to be associated with the most ignominious deeds, he will suffer terribly. She herself has a share in both the suffering brought to the city and the suffering required to cleanse it. If this word is taken, as it is often meant, to refer to the “miserable race of mortals,” it might include herself, Oidipous, Kreon, and the city and implicate all in bringing pain as much as suffering it. [Mp] [Mw]