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Sophocles ( 4961— 406 BC; Greek: Σοφοκλης) was an ancient Greek playwright, dramatist, priest, and politician of Athens. He is known as the second of the three great Greek tragedians; Sophocles was 30 years younger than Aeschylus and 15 years older than Euripides, and was often in competition with both in dramatic contests. He is most noted for his prolific playwriting. He wrote 123 plays and had 24 victories2 in the dramatic competitions in the Festival of Dionysus, more than any other. (This means 96 plays won first prize, as they were submitted in fours). Records indicate that none of his plays earned anything lower than second place.
Many scholars, including Aristotle, considered Sophocles to be the greatest playwright in ancient Greek theatre. However, of the hundreds of works he produced in his lifetime, seven tragedies survive in their complete form, along with around half of a satyr play. (Sixty to 90 others exist in fragments). The most famous of his surviving works are his famous three Theban plays, the tragedies surrounding OedipusOedipus or OElig;dipus less commonly Oidipous was the mythical king of Thebes, son of Laius and Jocasta, who, unknowingly, killed his father and married his mother. Laius once raped one of his students, Chrysippus and was in turn cursed by Pelops, the boy and Antigone129 Antigone is an asteroid. There were two women in Greek mythology named Antigone ("like her ancestors"). Both are described below. The best-known Antigone in Greek mythology was the daughter of Oedipus. When Oedipus stepped down as King of Thebes, he g.
1 Life
Sophocles was born about a mile northwest of Athens, in the rural deme (small community) of Colonus Hippius in AtticaThis article is about Attica in Greece. For other Atticas, see Attica (disambiguation Statistics Capital: Athens Area:3,808 km˛ Inhabitants: 3,756,607 (2001) Ranked 1st Pop. density:987 inh. km˛ Ranked 1st Code for the municipalities01xx, Athens,03xx, eas. His birth took place five years before the Battle of MarathonThe Battle of Marathon ( 490 BC) was the culmination of King Darius I of Persia's first major attempt to conquer the remainder of the Greeks and add them to the Persian Empire, thereby securing the weakest portion of his Western border. Background Hippias, and fifteen before the Battle of SalamisThe Battle of Salamis was a naval battle between the Greek city-states and Persia, fought in September, 480 BC in the straits between Piraeus and Salamis, a small island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens, Greece. Background The Athenians had fled to Salamis. His father, Sophilos (sometimes "Sophillus"), was a wealthy merchant. Some historians speculate that Sophilos was a carpenterA carpenter is a skilled craftsman who performs carpentry a wide range of woodworking that includes constructing buildings, furniture, and other large objects out of wood. Since most of carpentry's required knowledge is gained through experience, the prof, smithSmith can refer to a person who practices smithing, to a very common family name or to part of a place name or location. Smithing A smith is a person involved in the shaping of metal objects. The traditional working place for a smith is a forge or smithy., or swordA sword (from Old English sweord akin to Old High German swerd is a bladed weapon, consisting in its most fundamental design of a blade and a handle. The blade is normally of metal and often ground to at least one sharp edge and usually has a pointed tipmaker; the majority believe he ran some kind of armaments business or factory that employed people of many occupations.
As a boy, Sopocles was educated in the arts and at a palaestra. He won awards in wrestling and music, and was said to be graceful and handsome. At the age of 16, he was chosen to lead the boys' chorus ( paean) at the Athenian celebration of the victory aganist the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 480.
Twelve years later, Sopocles first entered the Festival of Dionysus with his play The Triptolemos. He took first prize, defeating even Aeschylus.
Surprisingly, Sopocles's most famous play, Oedipus the King, only won second place.
