SOPHOCLES

Sophocles came from a rich family that lived in colonus, a small town near Athens.As an adult, sophocles took part in many drama competitions.In his first competition,Sophocles took first prize defeating none other than Aeschylus himself!More than 120 plays were to follow.He would go on to win 18 first prizes, and he would never fail to take at least second. One of the great innovators of the theatre , he was the first to add a third to add a third actor.he also abolished the trilogic form.Aeschylus ,for example, had used three tragedies to tell a single story.Sophocles choose to make each tragedy a complete entity in itself .As a result ,he had to pack all of his action into the shorter form,and this clearly offered greater dramatic possibilities Many authorities also credit him with the invention of scene -painting.Sadly ,of sophocles more than 120 plays ,only seven have survived in their entirety. Sophocles most famous plays are 'Antigone','Oedipus Rex', and'Oedipus at Colonus'.'Antigone' tells the story of Antigone ,the daughter of Oedipus.'Oedipus Rex'is mainly about fate , no matter how much they try.It's about accepting there are things that are beyond your control.'Oedipus at Colonus' tells the story of what happend to Oedipus after he left Thebes. Sophocles other famous works are 'Ajax','The Woman of Trachis ','Philoctetes' and 'Electra'.'Ajax'chronicles the fate of the warrior Ajax after the events of the lliad, but before the end of the Trojan war.The 'Woman of Trachiniae' is an Athenian tragedy, while Philoctetes takes place during the Torjan war His father, Sophillus, was not an aristocrat but rather a wealthy man, which meant that Sophocles was given an excellent education. The first real glimpse of him in the sources reveal that he was chosen after the defeat of the Persians to lead a boys’ choir in singing a paean around the trophy of victory, and further accompany the proceedings on the harp. Nothing more is known about Sophocles until he first appears as a tragic poet at one of the Athenian Festivals (see About Greek Theatre) in 468 BC (indeed, we have clearer records for these festivals than we do for Sophocles’ life story). He would then have been about twenty-eight years of age, and was entering his first trilogy against the extremely well-renowned Aeschylus. Supposedly, the excitement at this festival was so high that the ten generals, rather than a jury drawn by lots, were asked to decide the winner. They chose Sophocles. From that point forward, Sophocles seems to have entered tragedies in the competitions something like once every two years, generally winning first prize. He won either eighteen or twenty-four first places at the City Dionysia, and never placed lower than second – and won several other prizes at the Lenaea. Oedipus Tyrannus, incidently, did not place first: the poet Philocles, on this occasion, won the prize (though it is possible that Philocles was entering using the tragedies of his uncle, Aeschylus, rather than ones he had himself written!). No full trilogy of Sophocles’ survives: the so-called ‘Theban Plays’, of which Oedipus Tyrannus is one, is not actually a full trilogy, and were not written in the order of their story, across Sophocles’ lifetime (Antigone comes first, Oedipus Tyrannus in his old age, and Oedipus at Colonos is only produced after Sophocles’ death). Sophocles is famously supposed by Aristotle in the Poetics to have added the third speaking actor to the Greek stage (probably sometime around 460: Aeschylus’ Oresteia [which requires three actors] follows two years later in 458 BC. Sophocles also supposedly increased the chorus size, even writing a treatise on the use of the chorus within the plays (which has not survived). The bond between Greek theatre and Greek society is also evident in Sophocles’ career. He was a senior administrator in the Athenian Empire, and elected to become one of the ten generals in charge of the military. He is also credited with introducing the cult of the healing god Asclepius into Athens: a result, perhaps, of the great plague that struck in the early years of the Peloponnesian War. For many years, a long tradition of criticism held Sophocles above both Aeschylus and Euripides, hailing his work as the apex of Greek tragedy. This conclusion, it might be said, has undergone considerable revision, and any such value judgment would today be shot down by classical scholars. That said, Aristotle praised him above all other playwrights, using Oedipus the King as a model for the perfect tragedy in his highly influential Poetics. Sophocles continued to write and serve in government well into his eighties. He died in c.406 BC. And yet, despite leaving us only a small sample of seven complete plays, Sophocles still left a legacy powerful enough to make him one of the founding fathers of Western drama. sophocles Quotes; A short saying oft contains much wisdom. Sophocles - More quotations on: [Quotations] Ignorant men don't know what good they hold in their hands until they've flung it away. Sophocles - More quotations on: [Ignorance] Much speech is one thing, well-timed speech is another. Sophocles - More quotations on: [Speech] One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love. Sophocles - More quotations on: [Love] The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities. Sophocles What you cannot enforce, do not command. Sophocles No man loves life like him that's growing old. Sophocles, Acrisius To him who is in fear everything rustles. Sophocles, Acrisius It is not righteousness to outrage A brave man dead, not even though you hate him. Sophocles, Ajax Men of ill judgment oft ignore the good That lies within their hands, till they have lost it. Sophocles, Ajax Of all human ills, greatest is fortune's wayward tyranny. Sophocles, Ajax - More quotations on: [Fortune] For God hates utterly The bray of bragging tongues. Sophocles, Antigone - More quotations on: [Conceit] Grief teaches the steadiest minds to waver. Sophocles, Antigone - More quotations on: [Grief] How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong! Sophocles, Antigone I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare - I have no use for him either. Sophocles, Antigone Money: There's nothing in the world so demoralizing as money. Sophocles, Antigone - More quotations on: [Money] Nobody likes the man who brings bad news. Sophocles, Antigone Numberless are the world's wonders, but none More wonderful than man. Sophocles, Antigone Reason is God's crowning gift to man. Sophocles, Antigone Show me the man who keeps his house in hand, He's fit for public authority. Sophocles, Antigone - More quotations on: [Authority] The ideal condition Would be, I admit, that men should be right by instinct; But since we are all likely to go astray, The reasonable thing is to learn from those who can teach. Sophocles, Antigone There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; No wisdom but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished, And proud men in old age learn to be wise. Sophocles, Antigone Wisdom outweighs any wealth. Sophocles, Antigone - More quotations on: [Wisdom] [Wealth] Truly, to tell lies is not honorable; but when the truth entails tremendous ruin, To speak dishonorably is pardonable. Sophocles, Creusa - More quotations on: [Lies] Death is not the worst thing; rather, when one who craves death cannot attain even that wish. Sophocles, Electra Death is not the worst; rather, in vain To wish for death, and not to compass it. Sophocles, Electra - More quotations on: [Death] The end excuses any evil. Sophocles, Electra (c.409 BC) - More quotations on: [Evil] It made our hair stand up in panic fear. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus One word Frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus Stranger in a strange country. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus