Predicting that Kreon will be hated “wherever he may be,” Oidipous makes a prophecy whose inaccuracy the audience can easily measure: not Kreon but Oidipous will be reviled for his terrible crimes, and not only by men, but most particularly by Apollo, who will not only arrange matters for him in the future, but who has long since been arranging matters for him. The audience can expand upon Oidipous’s comment, then, to include the god’s role in his life: “Wherever he may be the god will pursue the one he hates and bring about his fall.” This Apollo appears to have been preparing for him throughout his life, from his birth to his coming of age, from his visit to Delphi to his determination to leave his childhood home forever, from killing his father to arrival at Thebes, from success over the Sphinx to marriage to his mother, with her fathering children, ruling over Thebes, and so at last making it his business to deal with the plague. Apollo has taken an interest in every step of the way. [Gd] [Apa] [Mw]