“Lately from snowy Parnassus clearly the voice flashed forth, bidding each Theban track him down, the unknown murderer. In the savage forests he lurks and in the caverns like the mountain bull. He is sad and lonely, his feet that carry him far from the navel of earth; but its prophecies, ever living, flutter around his head” (Grene, line 553-563). The passage depicts a imagery of current situation that the murderer of Laius still alive in ongoing impunity. It uses simile that compares the murderer and “the mountain bull” to emphasize that the ugly features of the murderer will be finally found out. His reckless temper and behavior will be blown out when someone challenges him even though he lurks in the forests. The power between evil and justice in the imagery shows an enormous difference. The justice is accomplished by “bidding each Theban” while the evil is “sad and lonely”. It constantly reminds people that evil always does not oppress the righteous. Even if the murderer get aways from “the navel of earth” and no relationship with anything else, “prophecies” set by God will chain him forever. It also implies that different prophecies might have been achieved in the following scenes.
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