The play begins with a request to Oedipus by the townspeople to rid Thebes of the plague, since he had so heroically solved the riddle of the Sphinx in the past. He sends Creon, his brother-in-law and uncle, to the oracles at Delphi. Creon returns with the cause for the plague; the murderer of the former King Laius was never punished for his crime. So Oedipus pledges himself to seek the killer and punish him as the gods wish. Oedipus summons the people of Thebes and demands that the killer, or whoever had knowledge of the killer, reveal himself. He threatens them with the punishment of banishment. Some members of the group suggest consulting Tiresia