What do you come t know, from the statement of the chorus, about the plague that has descended upon the city of Thebes?

Ans. Creon leaves when he has told the story of the murder of the late King Laius. The chorus representing the citizens of Thebes enter singing. From the song of the chorus we come to know about the plague that is now devastating the city of Thebes. According to the statement of the Chorus, the people are undergoing untold sufferings. The fertile soil of the land has become unproductive. Women are giving birth to dead children. People are dying in large numbers. The city reeks with the death in her death-bringing streets. The people lie dead in the streets, and none is there to lament. Mothers kneel at every altar. Night’s agony grows into the tortured day. The terrible cry of the fierce god of war rings in the ears of the people. This indicates that war may soon begin and cause further destruction. The sufferings of the people are “beyond all telling.” There is no remedy for the curse which outstrips any invention of remedy. “And barren agonies of birth—/Life after life from the wildfire winging/Swiffly into the night.”
The plague, according to the Delphic oracle, has descended upon the city of Thebes, as a result of the murder of the late King Laius not being avenged, and the killer still living in the city. The chorus sings of these pitiable conditions of the city by way of invocation of the different gods for having mercy on them and removing the curse.

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