When Oidipous proclaims that he never laid a hand on a sword, he raises a question about the incident at the crossroads, for his own account of it makes no mention of a sword; he might have killed all members of the party (save one) with his staff. If he did kill with the staff, that might help explain why he never connected the prophecy with his action. Passing on from considering death by sword stroke, Oidipous considers that Polybos might indeed have died of another cause related to Oidipous, and Oidipous now passes over the possibility of killing with an instrument other than a sword to suppose that Polybos might have died of longing for his absent son. Even in this case, it would be Oidipous’s decision to avoid killing his father by an act of violence that led to his father’s nonviolent demise. In any case, the forms of parricide with which Oidipous’s mind is presently occupied presents a direct contrast with the actual parricide of which Oidipous remains unaware. Oidipous’s failure to think of killing with a staff suggests that the god managed to arrange for Laios to be killed by choosing a method that Oidipous would not imagine and therefore could not successfully resist. [Mpea] [Apamu]