Aetiology of the name underscores the fact that it has always been a sign pointing to the scars on his heels that are themselves signs of exceptional circumstances that make their bearer an exception to the rule of “man” that solved the Sphinx’s riddle. The triple signification prompts the audience to turn its thoughts again to the moment at which the infant received its name. Clearly, it already had the injuries, which suggests that these were inflicted very early in life. What can the cause of the injuries to both ankles have been, if not an intentional exposure? What are the chances of an exposed infant’s accidental discovery? What are the chances that the injury and name would set the stage for the prophesied fatal encounter at the crossroads? For victory over a divine being? And how could a man carrying the triple signification not now realize the difference between the people who saved and raised him and those who bore and attempted to destroy him? If Oidipous cannot see in this marvelous concatenation of events the the work of an unseen hand, the play’s audience certainly can. Oidipous’s limitation–his blindness–to the marvel of which he is the focus can be explained only by a profound and unshakeable conviction that gods do not or cannot intervene in mortal lives. Under these circumstances, that conviction bespeaks what can only be described as irrational. [Apa] [Md]