As a prognosticator working from reason and observation befitting a practitioner of medical science, Iokaste is confident that her skill surpasses that of the divinely inspired mantis. Her attitudes may be paradigmatic of the way in which the new scientific rigor may be displacing more traditional Athenian institutions. The delight she takes in the demonstration of her competence and victory over prophecy is, however, clearly misconceived, and this allows the audience to judge her reliance on science to be unwarranted and to have engendered in her an arrogant and impious attitude towards traditional religious institutions. [Mpea] [P] Until science finds a cure for plague it will not outmode the traditional approach, namely: consultation with a prophet to inquire of the god, what offense has been committed and how it may be remedied. [Mi]