Oidipous wants to emphasize his preference for Chance as his metaphorical mother, but his words ring with a second meaning, for “I am born of such a mother” prompts the audience to think of his literal mother, Iokaste, who likewise preferred to believe in chance and her own powers of self-determination rather than submit to divine power. [Gd] [Md] [P] While his independence of thought might from some perspectives seem admirable, his adoption or inheritance of her philosophy shows that he wishes independence only from the gods; he is not in fact an independent thinker, as is shown by the fact that he is acting in accord with Iokaste’s advice to him that it is “most effective to live at will, so far as one is able” (l. 979). He is born of a mother who believed she could circumvent prophecy, and like her, he has believed the same thing and lived by the same principle. [Mpea] The consequences are catastrophic; mother and son have been married, shared a bed, and conceived children. [Mw]