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28 from the shrine of Delphi, believed by the Greek to be the centre of the earth, just as Jerusalem was by medieval Christendom.

For once (Creon avers) Apollo has spoken plainly. It is the guilt of innocent blood which troubles the land. Laius had been foully murdered by unknown hands; and until the murderer was banished, or blood was repaid by blood, there should be neither peace nor rest for the people of Cadmus. Œdipus then asks a train of questions, which (as critics remark) show a strange ignorance of circumstances which must have been well known to every Theban. Creon tells him how, when, and where the murder had taken place, as far as rumour went. One eyewitness had escaped, who talked of a "band of robbers" falling on the king; but these, like Falstaff's "men in buckram," were afterwards shown to have been invented to screen his own cowardice. Œdipus then reproaches the Thebans for their previous neglect, and announces that he will take upon himself the office of discovering and punishing the unknown criminal:—

Then the deputation of citizens, having secured a champion, withdraws in procession from the stage, and Œdipus is left alone. "During this pause," says one of the most acute of modern critics, "the spectator has leisure to reflect how different all is from what it