Iokaste now takes aim at the god himself: the murder of Laios did not go as he said it would. The word “murder” (φόνον) echoes “murderer” (φόνευς), the word Oidipous uses to relate what the Pythia predicted about him in relation to his father and “execution” (φόνῳ; l. 100), the word that Kreon uses to relate the penalty to be paid for Laios’ killing. The repetition of this word points up for the audience a striking consistency in the way that the god’s communications are worded. Events will soon be revealed to have gone precisely (ὀρθόν) as the god related through both Teiresias and the Pythia. That ὀρθόν is modified by δικαίως (“justly”) further suggests that contrary to Iokaste’s belief, not only does the god have the means to realize the prophetic word uttered in his name, but his prophecies are just; Laios deserved to be killed. That Iokaste deserves the suffering expected to end in suicide by hanging is underscored by her present argument, which vaunts the impotence of prophecy and even of the god in whose name it is issued. How Oidipous deserves his fate is not as clear, for while he, like Iokaste and Laios, is committed to defeating prophecy, unlike them, it is in order to avoid doing terrible things. That the god compels him to do these things regardless of his efforts clearly demonstrates the god’s power, but not his justice. If Athens is presumed also to have been engaged in the attempt to find the appropriate response to a prophecy predicting the city’s defeat, it might consider itself in relation to Oidipous, Iokaste, and Laios. Unlike Oidipous, Athens is not motivated by the desire to avoid harming those it loves. It is like Laios and Iokaste, rather, who order the death of their own infant child as a means to protect themselves. Self-preservation might seem an acceptable justification, but not when the exposure to risk was itself avoidable. This consideration marks a stark but meaningful contrast with Oidipous; where he wishes to avoid harming mother and father, his commitment is made in ignorance of the fact that they would have killed him to save themselves from a situation brought on by the disdain they have both for prophecy and the god who issues it. The central tennet for divine justice, it would seem, is respect for prophecy and the gods. [Apa] [Mpei] [Gt-a] [Md] [Aj]