Sophocles

Sophocles (496 BC - 406 BC), was an Athenian dramatist and politician. He is known as the second of the three great Greek tragedians, preceded by Aeschylus and followed by Euripides.

He distinguished himself at an early age: At the Athenian celebration of the victory at Salamis (480 B.C.), the 16-year-old Sophocles was the leader of the chorus of dancing and singing naked boys.

A long line of scholars, beginning with Aristotle, considered Sophocles to be the greatest playwright among the ancients. He also won the Festival of Dionysus, an ancient dramatic festival, more times than any other.

His most famous works are his tragedies about Oedipus, known collectively, due to their setting, as the three Theban plays:

• Oedipus the King (also known as Oedipus Rex)
• Oedipus at Colonus
• Antigone

Only four more of his many dozens of original works survive today:

• Ajax
• Electra
• Philoctetes
• The Trachiniae