Oidipous is not, as he thinks, a stranger either to the story (τοῦ λόγου) or to the deed (τοῦ πραχθέντος), for as the audience knows, the λόγος given him at Delphi foretold that he would kill his father, a deed that he promptly committed even while rushing to avoid it. Contrary to his belief, then, he is intimately involved with both the word and deed of Laios’ killing. So where he expresses his willingness to take on Thebes’ problems as his own despite believing that he has not the remotest connection with them, the audience knows him to be the source of Thebes’ pollution in that he killed Thebes’ ruler, arrived in the city without having undergone purification rituals, and has never concerned himself either with his predecessor’s fate or the fact that his own killing of a man must have been felt by someone somewhere. These errors suggest to the audience that he will not be able to deliver on his stated intentions, or if he does, this will not be due to any clarity on his part, but rather despite his self-imposed ignorance and his belief in the inconsequentiality of his own violence. The god foretold the event and caused it to happen, and now the god is orchestrating discovery and punishment of the party responsible. [Gm] [Mei] [Mea] [Apcma] [Apamu]