The Chorus acknowledges that loss of faith is widespread; “nowhere” is Apollo receiving the honors due him and “divinity is [everywhere] on the ebb.” This generalization must be tested against Athens, where faith in the capacity for self-rule provides the basis for the democratic political process and where as a consequence of the plague “[s]upplications in the temples, divinations, and so forth were found equally futile, till the overwhelming nature of the disaster at last put a stop to them altogether” (Thuc. 2.47.4). If supplications in Athens resembled the one at the beginning of this play, no wonder that they have been proving futile, for unlike Oidipous, the Athenian leadership has not sent to Delphi to seek a cure for the plague. Given the parallels between Athens and Thebes felt by the Athenian audience during this choral song, it might well consider the plague in Athens to be an act of god similarly aimed at prompting a consultation that should long since have been sought. [P] [Mw] [Mpea] [Gt-a]