Asking for “one word more” for a final test that the seer has his sight reveals that Oidipous has not accepted the conclusions as the audience had inferred. He has not yet altogether lost heart, and indeed, he is struggling mightily not to, but to preserve heart and mind by putting all his resources into combatting his fear. He does so by exercising the utmost care not to draw an unwarranted conclusion. But the standards for accepting a conclusion now seem almost impossibly and unacceptably high, for even the remotest possibility of an error on the seer’s part might furnish grounds to stop considering the implications of the seer’s recent revelations, not to mention the older prophecies touching him and his father, Laios and his son. From the audience’s point of view, however, knowing that Oidipous did kill Laios, further investigation seems pointless, unless it is a delaying tactic, in which case it is pathetic. Oidipous seems most insistent upon proof and evidence when acceptance of prophecy is at stake; he will do almost anything to question or postpone acknowledgement that prophecy is legitimate, authentic, and backed by power. [Mi] [Mp] [Md] [Apa]