---
title: Which prediction did the Pythia communicate to Oedipus at Delphi con… — Greek Myths, Oedipus, part 2: the trut… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which prediction did the Pythia communicate to Oedipus at Delphi concerning his parentage? Exam question 3 of lesson 549 «Greek Myths, Oedipus, part 2: the truth comes out and the sons quarrel over Thebes» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the q
---

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# Exam question 3 · Greek Myths, Oedipus, part 2: the truth comes out and the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which prediction did the Pythia communicate to Oedipus at Delphi concerning his parentage?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** prediction, Pythia · **What happens:** communicate, concern, parent · **To what, where:** Oedipus, parentage

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 549 «Greek Myths, Oedipus, part 2: the truth comes out and the sons quarrel over Thebes» of the books course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/549-pg22381-part55/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:549-pg22381-part55:e3:1
# text = Which prediction did the Pythia communicate to Oedipus at Delphi concerning his parentage?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	prediction	prediction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Pythia	Pythia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	communicate	communicate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Oedipus	Oedipus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	Delphi	Delphi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
11	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	parentage	parentage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **communicate** | past · do-support | which prediction |  | Oedipus at Delphi |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **concern** | gerund | which prediction *not said here* | Pythia's parentage |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus parentage=Experiencer |
| 3 | **parent** |  | Pythia |  |  |  |  |  | nom parentage «state transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
that he would slay his sire and wed his dam

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:549-pg22381-part55:e3:o1:1
# text = that he would slay his sire and wed his dam
1	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	slay	slay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	sire	sire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	wed	w	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	dam	dam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **slay** | would | he | his sire |  |  |  |  | vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sire=Patient |
| 2 | **w** | past | he *not said here* | his dam |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
that he would kill his father and marry his mother

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:549-pg22381-part55:e3:o2:1
# text = that he would kill his father and marry his mother
1	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	marry	marry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **kill** | would | he | his father |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent father=Theme |
| 2 | **marry** | infinitive | he *not said here* | his mother |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mother=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
that he would murder Laius and marry Jocaste

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:549-pg22381-part55:e3:o3:1
# text = that he would murder Laius and marry Jocaste
1	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	murder	murder	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	Laius	Laius	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	marry	marry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
8	Jocaste	Jocaste	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **murder** | would | he | Laius |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **marry** | infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
that a terrible fate would come from his own hand against his parents

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:549-pg22381-part55:e3:o4:1
# text = that a terrible fate would come from his own hand against his parents
1	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	terrible	terrible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	fate	fate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	against	against	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | would | a terrible fate |  |  | fate's own hand |  | against fate's parents | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from hand=Initial\_Location |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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