Sophocles
Sophocles (
497 BC,
496 BC, or
495 BC –
406 BC) (
Ancient Greek: ) was one of the three great
ancient Greek tragedians, together with
Aeschylus and
Euripides. According to the
Suda he wrote 123 plays; in the dramatic competitions of the
Festival of Dionysus (where each submission by one playwright consisted of four plays; three tragedies and a
satyr play, he won more first prizes (around 20) than any other playwright, and placed second in all others he participated in (Lloyd-Jones 1994: 8). His first victory was in 468, although scholars are no longer certain that this was the first time that he competed (Scullion 2002).
Only seven of his tragedies have survived complete in the medieval manuscript tradition. The most famous are the three tragedies concerning
Oedipus and
Antigone: these are often known as the
Theban plays or
The Oedipus Cycle, although they do not make up a single trilogy. Discoveries of
papyri from the late nineteenth century onwards, especially at
Oxyrhynchus, have greatly added to our knowledge of Sophocles' works. The most substantial fragment which has so far appeared contains around half of a
satyr play,
The Tracking Satyrs.
Sophocles was born about a mile northwest of
Athens in the rural
deme (small community) of
Colonus Hippius in
Attica, which today is near the railway station. His birth took place a few years before the
Battle of Marathon in
490 BC: the exact year is unclear, although 497/6 is perhaps most likely (Lloyd-Jones 1994: 7). The ancient life of Sophocles disputes claims that his father, Sophillus, was a
carpenter,
smith, or
swordmaker, asserting rather that he owned slaves who pursued such occupations. The Life goes on to say the young Sophocles won awards in
wrestling and
music, and was graceful and handsome. He led the chorus of
naked boys (
paean) at the Athenian celebration of the victory against the
Persians at the
Battle of Salamis in
480 BC.
Sophocles enjoyed a public profile outside the theatre. In 443/2 he served as one of the
Hellenotamiai or treasurers of Athena. The
Athenian people elected him as one of the ten generals for 441/0, during which he participated in the crushing of the revolt of
Samos. There is some evidence that he was one of the commissioners appointed in
413 BC as a response to the catastrophic destruction of the Athenian expeditionary force in Sicily (Lloyd-Jones 1994: 12-13). Sophocles also served as a priest for a time.
Like many Ancient Greek names, that of Sophocles () has a meaning. A compound of σοφός (sophos) "wise" and κλέος (kleos) "glory", Sophocles' name translates to "famous for wisdom."
Only two of the seven surviving plays have securely dated first or second performances:
Philoctetes (
409 BC) and
Oedipus at Colonus (
401 BC, put on after Sophocles' death by his grandson, also called Sophocles). Of the others,
Electra shows stylistic similarities to these two plays, and so is probably late.
Ajax,
Antigone and
The Trachiniae are generally thought to be early, again on grounds of style, with
Oedipus the King coming in Sophocles' middle period (see e.g. Lloyd-Jones 1994: 8-9).
The Theban plays (The Oedipus Cycle)
*
Oedipus the King (
Oedipus Rex or
Oedipus Tyrannos) (second prize)
*
Oedipus at Colonus (first prize)
*
AntigoneOther plays
*
Ajax *
The Trachiniae *
Electra *
Philoctetes (first prize)
Fragmentary plays
*
The Tracking Satyrs*
The ProgenyAias Lokros (
Ajax the Locrian)
Akhaiôn Syllogos (
The Gathering of the Achaeans)
HermioneNauplios Katapleon (
Nauplius' Arrival)
Nauplios Pyrkaeus (
Nauplius' Fires)
NiobeOenomausPoimenes (
The Shepherds)
PolyxeneSyndeipnoi (
The Diners, or,
The Banqueters)
TereusTroilus and PhaedraTriptolemusTyro Keiromene (
Tyro Shorn)
Tyro Anagnorizomene (
Tyro Rediscovered)
Fragments of
The Tracking Satyrs (
Ichneutae) were discovered in
Egypt in 1907. It is one of only two recovered
satyr plays.
Fragments of
The Progeny (
Epigonoi) were discovered in April
2005 by classicists at
Oxford University with the help of
infrared technology previously used for
satellite imaging. The tragedy tells the story of the siege of
Thebes. The fragment translates to the following:
Speaker A: . . . gobbling the whole, sharpening the flashing iron.
Speaker B: And the helmets are shaking their purple-dyed crests, and for the wearers of breast-plates the weavers are striking up the wise shuttle's songs, that wakes up those who are asleep.
Speaker A: And he is gluing together the chariot's rail. [
1]
An
asteroid,
2921 Sophocles, was named after him.
Aristotle used Sophocles'
Oedipus the King as an example of perfect tragedy.
*
Tragedy on screen*
Matthew Arnold,
Dover Beach. 1867
* Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones (ed.)
Sophocles. Ajax. Electra. Oedipus Tyrannus, Harvard University Press, 1994.
* Scott Scullion,
Tragic dates, Classical Quarterly, new sequence 52 (2002) 81-101. [
2]
*
Smith, William,
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1870, article on Sophocles, [
3]
*
Free ebook of Sophocles at
Project Gutenberg*
Works of Sophocles at the Perseus Digital Library (Greek and English)*
Sophocles Quotes*
Fragmentary Tragedies of Sophocles Project*
Studies in Sophoclean Fragments*
films based on Sophocles plays
