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Sophocles
His Years of Life
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496-406 B.C. Age 91
Sophocles was an ancient Greek playwright, born in Colonus near
Athens, Greece in 496 B.C.E. His father, Sophilus, was a rich member of a
small community, the rural ‘Deme’. Sophocles was highly educated. He
is one of three Greek tragedians whose plays have lived on. The Suda,
which is an ancient 10th Century encyclopedia, from which we know
that Sophocles wrote 123 plays out of which we have 7 complete plays.
These are ‘Ajax’, ‘Antigone’, ‘The Women of Trachis’, ‘Oedipus the King’,
‘Electra’, ‘Philoctetes’ and ‘Oedipus at Colonus’. He took part in
competitions and even won over the two popular playwrights Aeschylus
and Euripides.
His Home
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Sophocles was born and grew up in the town of
Colonus, just outside of Athens
His Accomplishments
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In 468, Sophocles defeated the first of the the three great
Greek tragedians, Aeschylus, in a dramatic competition; then
in 441, the third of the tragedian trio, Euripides, beat him. During
his long life Sophocles earned many prizes, including about 20
for 1st place.
He was the Imperial Treasurer from 443 to 442 B.C.E, helping
control the funds of the Delian Confederacy for the Athenian
Empire. He was also elected as a member of the Board of
Generals more than once.
Oedipus the King
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Sophocles (495 BC-405 BC) was a famous and successful
Athenian writer of tragedies in his own lifetime. Of his 120 plays,
only 7 have survived. Oedipus the King, also called Oedipus
Tyrannos or Oedipus Rex, written around 420 BC, has long been
regarded not only as his finest play but also as the purest and
most powerful expression of Greek tragic drama.
Antigone
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The tragedy was written somewhere around 442 BC. Chronologically, it is
the third of the three Theban plays, but was the first to be written. The
play continues Aeschylus' play Seven Against Thebes, and it extends the
Theban legend that predated it.
Philoctetes
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“Philoctetes” is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles,
first performed at the City Dionysia of Athens in 409 BCE, where it won
first prize. The story takes place towards the end of the Trojan War, after
the events recounted in Homer’s “Iliad”, and describes the attempt by
Neoptolemus and Odysseus to persuade or trick the disabled Philoctetes
into accompanying them to Troy, in order to fulfill a prophecy and finally
bring the ten-year war to a close.
The Women of Trachis
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In The Women of Trachis, Sophocles presents another well-rounded
female character--Deianira, the wife of Heracles. His greatest character
drama, however, is probably Electra.
Oedipus at Colonus
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Oedipus at Colonus is one of the three Theban plays of the Athenian
tragedian Sophocles. It was written shortly before Sophocles' death in
406 BC and produced by his grandson at the Festival of Dionysus in 401
BC
Web
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" Sophocles." 2012. FamousAuthors.org 9 January, 8
january
N.S. Gill “sophocles.” ©2013 About.com, Inc. 2013
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/sophocles/p/Soph
ocles.htm
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