The knowledge and the self -identity that is found in the mystery that Oedipus tries to solve, in Oedipus Rex, changes his life dramatically. The central action of the play is an investigation into the murder of King Laius of Thebes. It is through this investigation that Oedipus solves the mystery of his birth and falls from his most high and fortunate position to a lowly and ruined state. The dismaying facts that are brought …showed first 75 words of 351 total…

…showed last 75 words of 351 total…Oedipus’s investigation changes Oedipus’s fortune from bad to worse. By continuing his investigation in hopes of staying king, he brings about an even worse change in fortune: he discovers that he had married his mother. The investigation into Laius’s murder in Oedipus Rex reveals horrifying truths for Oedipus and illustrates the mutability of every man’s fortune and situation. Therefore, no man can be considered to be fortunate until he is dead.