As Kreon presents them, Apollo’s words take the form of a command expressed forthrightly and in unmistakable terms: to drive contamination out. The audience’s understanding immediately exceeds the literal meaning of the words, however, for its familiarity with the myth enables it to recognize that Thebes is infected by Oidipous, to whom the Oracle makes implicit reference as the source of pollution (μιάσμα) “bred” (τεθραμμένον) in this very place. Yet, while this seems to point toward Oidipous, τεθραμμένον does not properly apply to him; he was conceived and born in Thebes, but he was not raised there. The verb τρέφω (“breed”) carries connotations such as “nurture,” “raise with care,” “tend,” and “cherish.” The fact of the matter, however, is that Oidipous’s parents tried to have him killed. So the god (or one of his intermediaries) is using inaccurate or misleading language or he is not referring strictly to Oidipous. If the god’s language is careless, then there is no point in thinking hard about any prophecy. Similarly, if Kreon is not reporting accurately, there is no point in thinking hard about his formulation. Assuming, however, that the words are meaningful, the audience must revise its understanding of the miasma; it is not Oidipous, but something that Thebes has tended with care as a home-grown product. As the attempted infanticide would indicate, there was a problem in Thebes even before Oidipous’s birth. It must be that to which the prophecy refers. To identify the pollution entirely with Oidipous would scapegoat him. Given this subtler understanding, the prophecy may still refer to Oidipous, but only as a carrier of the pollution, not as its source. So while for Oidipous the meaning of the oracular message is obscured by ambiguity (such as the case of “death” and “dearth” cited by Thucydides) and ignorance (for example: about the facts of his own birth), the audience may observe the validity of the god’s words in two ways; Oidipous was born in Thebes and pollutes the city through his crimes and must therefore be driven out, but Thebes has been nurturing a way of life by which it pollutes itself and which must therefore also be driven out. Driving out one infected citizen may be a step in the right direction, but this by itself cannot cleanse the city. It remains for the city to recognize and exorcise the pollution that it has itself been fostering. Whatever this may be, it is something that Thebans actively cultivate; it must be a practice in which the city lays store. What is it, then, that Thebes might be doing to pollute itself? [Mw] [Mpei] [Mipd] [P]