In Virgil’s Aeneid, omens and prophecies are used to combat narrative delay and keep the plot moving. Virgil is always interested in shuttling his hero Aeneas along to his end goal: the glorious founding of Rome. Statius, on the other hand, often uses prophecies and omens as devices of delay. His text is about unspeakable crime; on a metaliterary level, the poet takes any excuse possible to stall talking about it. In the Thebaid, seers like Amphiaraus and Tiresias often must be asked or convinced to consult the signs. The omens, when consulted, are never good—Statius revels in describing the terrifying sights and sounds. Importantly, once the prophets have seen and interpreted the signs, they rarely share the results quickly with the people who need to hear them. They hide until pushed to reveal the truth, sometimes under threat of violence. Finally, they actively resent the gods for forcing them to see the truth.

That being said, the subjects of the prophecies never seem to need an excuse to ignore the will of the gods. Unpropitious omens, when observed, are often explicitly ignored. Like Oedipus, people not only are blind to the truth, they want to stay blind.