Read the following passage and answer the question. My children, latest generation born from Cadmus, why are you sitting here with wreathed sticks in supplication to me, while the city fills with incense, chants and cries of pain?
…

so I have come in person—I, Oedipus,
whose fame all men acknowledge.
…

I shall assist you willingly in every way.
I would be a hard-hearted man indeed,
if I did not pity suppliants like these.

Based on its context, what is a suppliant?

someone who seeks help
someone who demands to be heard
someone who refuses help
someone, like a king, who has the power to grant a request