His claim to suffer grief on behalf of his people appears to be somewhat disingenuous, not because he is insincere, but because in relation to the grief that the audience knows to be in store for him, what he feels for Thebes might perhaps better be downgraded to “concern.” There are significant differences to be discerned between a concern for others mingled with commitment to finding a remedy and the kind of suffering that results from the discovery of one’s own culpability in causing great harm to oneself and others. Oidipous’s suffering will have a moral cause; he killed his father, married his mother, fathered abominations, all the while certain that he could keep himself free of contamination. Such arrogance may cause the most severe grief of all, especially for one who stakes everything on his capacity for clear (non-contradictory) thinking. [Mp] [Md] [Mw]