When Oidipous comments that he has been fortunate (εὐτυχῶς), he may be thinking of any of the following: successful avoidance of both intercourse with his mother and killing his father, successful solution of the Sphinx’s riddle, installation on the throne of Thebes, and enjoyment of all the king’s rights and prerogatives, including marriage to the queen. The audience, on the other hand, knows that he has not avoided incest or parricide, and for the privilges he has enjoyed he will prove to be the most unfortunate of men. But to what extent will any of his unhappiness have been due to fortune, good or bad? If Oidipous attributes any of his happiness to luck, it is a manner of speech, for he is joined by all Thebans, except perhaps Teiresias, in crediting his victory over the Sphinx to his own intelligence. At this point, however, even he worries that his encounter with Laios at the crossroads may have been “unlucky.” Thus, the audience will be provoked by his present celebration of good luck to realize that chance has played little, if any, role in arranging the most significant events of his life: his survival and adoption, the drunken comments that sent him to Delphi, his misinterpretation of the god’s words, the encounter at the crossroads, his defeat of the Sphinx, or his marriage to Iokaste. Even circumstances clearly not contrived by the god, such as Oidipous’s misinterpretation of prophecy, his decision to flee his Corinthian home, and his violent response to the provocation at the crossroads were not the product of chance, but of his own predilections. So, where he congratulates himself on his success, the audience will find him directly responsible for the terrible deeds he has done and the terrible misfortunes in store for him. Indeed, if he credits “good luck” for his success in avoiding parricide in an effort to conceal his personal satisfaction at having thus far evaded the god’s prophecies, he comes off as arrogant and impious. The audience will have begun to realize that his actions have necessitated Apollo to manage affairs to Oidipous’s greatest disadvantage. [Md] [Mpea] [Apa] [Dc] [Dnc]