His wife’s counsel seems to have left Oidipous unconvinced—his fear having abated for a moment seems now to have reasserted itself, for part of the prophecy is to his mind still current, realizing which, he seems unable to maintain faith in his own conclusion that the failure of one prophecy demonstrates the pointlessness of all prophecy. [Md] [Mpea] Yet while Oidipous’s fears may seem to be those of a child and Iokaste’s counsels are reminiscent of a mother’s authoritative but baseless reassurances that dismiss rather than acknowledging the validity of those fears, the audience knows the danger to which his fears relate to be very real. It is even more deeply disturbing that Oidipous’s mother is the one offering to allay his fear of incest. The mother’s consolation will only deepen the pain that he must eventually feel. [Mpei] [Mw] Reassurances current in Athens similar to those offered by Iokaste will prove to be similarly unhelpful: the prophesied catastrophe (Athens’ defeat at the hands of Sparta and its allies) should be treated with the utmost seriousness and dealt with directly. [Mg] [Mip]