Hawks are considered to be evil birds, and are often in some texts considered to be possessed by the Devil, which shows that the Sphinx was not respected whatsoever, and was considered evil. Also, when the Chorus was trying to solve the question of who killed Laius, they basically ruled out the thought that the killer could be a woman. This can be seen in quote 6, which reads: "Who is the man the voice of god denounces?" This shows that nobody believes that a woman could ever have killed Laius, perhaps because physical strength would have been needed, and women were not expected to carry any physical strength. Had the chorus had thought that a woman may have killed Laius, they probably would have asked "who is the person the voice of god denounces?".
The issue of Inequality of Power was also raised in the 1st Stasimon. The great gods were considered to have the highest level of power, Oedipus being next, and the prophets and seers being the lowest of powers along with the Chorus. This can be seen in quote 8 on the 1st Stasimon handout, when the Chorus was trying to prove that Tiresias could not know the real truth. Quote 8 reads: "Zeus and Apollo know, they know, the great masters of all the dark and depth of human life. But whether a mere man can know the truth, whether a seer can fathom more than I." This shows that the Chorus feels as though seers have the same power as the chorus, and therefore would know no better. However, they also see the gods to be of high power, and so would believe anything they say. The chorus sees Oedipus to be of higher power than them, as they call him their king. This can be seen through quote 9 on the handout, which reads "Never will I convict my king, never in my heart." Another issue to be discussed in the 1st Stasimon is Accusation, Distrust and Denial.
The whole Stasimon is based around the one main accusation; this being the accusation made towards Oedipus by Tiresias.
