“Faction of the tongue” (στάσιν γλώσσης) is a twisted and round-about way of saying “dispute”—it suggests the splitting of the city into camps that speak differently or possibly have different interpretations for a word or phrase. The dispute between Oidipous and Kreon revolves around the seer—his integrity, his authenticity, and the accuracy of his prophetic word. Okaste’s formulation suggests that such a dispute can involve the whole city in factionalism that bursts forth in the political arena of the Assembly.