When the Corinthian promises good things for the house and for Oidipous, the audience will be uncertain how to interpret his words; surely they cannot be correct. But who is this man and what is his errand? Knowing no more than the on-stage auditors, including Iokaste, who asks about the tidings he brings, the audience is free to hope, if it will, for good news. But it may at the same time remind itself that such an outcome runs counter both to the mythic tradition and all indications that the god is at work to restore faith in the institution of divine prophecy. To hope for good tidings, then, is to hope for the demise of prophecy. The audience is again confronted with the issue of piety presented at the play’s outset, but now with piety more narrowly defined and with a clearer sense that when mortals place their faith in a mortal solution that affronts prophecy, this necessitates Apollo’s corrective action. [Mpei] [P] [Mip] [Aj]