The extreme reversal in his feelings about intercourse with Iokaste must be unbearable, for Oidipous plunges the dressing needles into his eyesockets (ἄρθρα). This word has twice been used of the infant’s pierced ankles (first by Iokaste at l. 718, then by the Corinthian stranger at l. 1032). Thus, the self-inflicted piercing of the eyesockets is associated with the piercing inflicted on the infant by his parents. The audience will see the two piercings as the antipodes of Oidipous’s life, and this recognition will prompt it to look for connections between the two actions. Both piercings can be seen as the consequence of forbidden sex: the intercourse between Laios and Iokaste encouraged by mortal law and custom but prohibited by Apollo and the intercourse between Oidipous and Iokaste prohibited by taboo–a blend of mortal and divine disapprobation. Both instances involve a prophecy from the god: the first warning Laios not to have intercourse with Iokaste, the second seeming to declare that Oidipous must have intercourse with her. The actions revolving around ἄρθρα thus represent comparable responses to comparable circumstances. For Iokaste the piercing is directed towards defeating prophecy, while Oidipous’s piercing of his own eyesockets (ἄρθρα) comes when he realizes that his effort to defeat prophecy has failed. Thus the pair ends up locked together in an intimacy far more terrible than taboo physical intimacy; they are made one by identical profoundly improper attitudes towards the god and prophecy. Sexual intercourse, death, and mutilation can now be seen as manifestations of a deeply lodged impiety towards prophecy and the god. These attitudes appear now to be uglier than the killings, the maimings, and even the incestuous sexual behavior that they spawn. That all this is communicated by repetition of the word ἄρθρα suggests that the god is communicating his message in a highly contrived speech act that translates into words the performance of a physical action (Oidipous’s stabbing brooch pins into his eyesockets). By choosing the word ἄρθρα the staffperson acts as the god’s messenger. His message is designed to prompt the Athenian audience to make the right connections and so to gain an insight necessary to its wellbing. [P] [Apcmu] [Ad] [Mw]