The word “never” strange in this context: it suggests that the circumstance is without end. Since, however, Laios died a long time ago, the possibility of his death as prophesied has long since been settled; either he was killed by his son or he was not. What she could reasonably say, if “never” is to make sense, is that Laios’ son has never been shown to have killed him. The audience has no doubt that this showing is precisely what is occurring now before its eyes. If Iokaste’s speech is understood as double entendre, the god seems to be underscoring the fact that what one takes to be a fact is only a belief, and a belief can be wrong, which allows for the possibility that the fact will some day cease to be a fact. Iokaste means that the baby never killed Laios, but in fact the baby did grow up to slay Laios, while Laios never killed the baby. The prophecy whose disproof Iokaste is vaunting proves in the end to have been a more reliable guide to the truth. The same is true for the prophecy that Oidipous has recounted: he did murder his father, and had he believed that the prophecy would be realized, he should have supposed that any sufficiently senior man he killed might be his father. [Mpea] [Mi]