Oidipous seems to find himself deserving of pity, because instead of telling him what he wanted to hear, Apollo seemed to change the subject to surprise him with the revelation that “awful wretched things” were in store for him. The audience already knows what these are, but (if one manuscript’s ἀθλίῳ, “poor soul,” is right) having first heard Oidipous express self pity and then offer a negative characterization of the prophecy prepares the audience to judge his response for its own qualities without the distraction of the prophecy itself. That Oidipous puts his response before the prophecy may lead one to suspect that he is more concerned with the god’s respect than he is for the fate that he is told awaits him. Surely the god is not bound to reply to questions only with answers that the consulter will be pleased to hear, and surely the one consulting is bound to take seriously and even stoically whatever the god might communicate to him, no matter how displeasing. What if the matters about which one asks are in fact terrible—is that the god’s fault? Is it the god’s duty to hide the awful truth? Oidipous seems to have gone into the interview with the Pythia with the wrong attitude. [Md] [P] [Mip]