The Chorus are devastated by Jocasta's casual dismissal of the power of oracles. They will lose their trust in Zeus and Apollo unless the oracle is fulfilled, and the blasphemer duly punished.
But when Jocasta comes back out of the house, alone, even she seems chastened - she's off to visit the temples of the gods! Ironically, she's praying to Apollo, because her husband is terrified by the oracles (which came from him). But she is interrupted by an arrival - who is it?

• An old shepherd, the witness to the murder?
• A completely different old shepherd?
• Oedipus?