Kreon’s reference to something “going wrong” accords with the audience’s expectation that Oidipous is about to receive bad news. And yet Kreon opines that this misfortune may “turn out well.” Knowing how things must turn out, the audience will wonder how his misfortunes could possibly turn out well. This is a question well-suited to the enlightened Athenian audience of new-made democrats—philosophers, sophists, lawmakers, and jurors faced with a plague within their city and a determined enemy on the rampage just outside their walls, an audience, moreover, that itself has heard a dire prophecy directed towards itself and can well anticipate that, were it to send to Delphi, that prophecy would be confirmed. Kreon’s optimism suggests, however, that the Athenian audience may seek a more positive reading to both prophecies—the one regarding Oidipous’s dire fate as well as the one predicting Athens’ defeat. Thus, it has a double motivation to listen for something unexpected in the message that Kreon is about to deliver. [Mipd] [Gt-a]