That the Chorus now reports that ancient prophecy is being singled out as evidence that the god did not fulfill his prophecies points up not the god’s failure, but that of the town, which has been content to proceed on the presumption that the prophecies could safely be ignored. That it relays this complaint betrays its own continuing reluctance to accept the evidence that prophecy is being realized right before its eyes. This reluctance is in fact damning. Threatening the end of the gods’ rule on the basis that city is not only content simply to allow it to occur but willing to blame the gods themselves for their own destruction suggests that the people are eager to relinquish their faith on scant evidence. They do not argue that Laios’ violent death should have been investigated, they do not recall the clues of which they knew, and they do not acknowledge that Apollo was impelled to order the present investigation because they were content to leave the matter unresolved. The plague to which Thebes has been subjected seems to be predicated upon the city’s own error. [Md] [Apa] [Mpe] [Dw]