SOPHOCLES

Sophocles is considered to be one of the great Greek playwrights. Sophocles is said to have been born around 496/5 BC, to a rich noble family from Colonus. He was said to be good-looking and liked by all. It is also said that he excelled in mousike(music) and gymnastike(sports) (Lloyd-Jones 7). Sophocles was the only one of the great playwrights to have held public office in the Athenian democracy. He was also one of the treasurers of the goddess Athena in 443/2 BC. It is also said that he was one of ten generals who took part in the suppression of the revolt of Samos (Lloyd-Jones 12).

Sophocles' plays were about human destiny and Divine Justice. They looked at the facts of life and showed the importance of innocence, equity, and mercy (Campbell XVi). The Sophoclean drama is considered to be personal, usually centering around an individual's destiny (Campbell xviii). A good example of this would be the tragedy King Oedipus. Oedipus cannot escape his destiny. He is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. All his planning and moving to another country did not save him from his destiny.

Subjects of Sophocles' plays came from other plays, poems, and fables. King Oedipus, Oedipus at Colonas and Antigone came from the Tale of Thebes (Campbell XX). In Antigone, the poet Aeschylus shows the heroine as defying the citizens with the support of a few friends. In Sophocles' Antigone the heroine stands alone and defies the power of King Creon, who forbade anyone to bury Antigone's brother.

Some historians attribute changes in the way plays were presented to Sophocles. Not all agree with this. The changes included:

addition of third actor

increase in the number of Chorus from twelve to fifteen

gave Chorus more subordinate part while reducing the number and length of choral roles

introduced scene painting

most important, abandoned the trilogistic form. Rather than three plays with connected plots he had three plays with unconnected plots (Coleridge XX).

He was a great poet and playwright. He seems to have been liked by everyone. The comic poet Phrynichas (fr. 32 Kassel-Austin) writes of Sophocles:

Fortunate Sophocles who after a long life
died, a happy and a gifted man
after writing many fine tragedies
he made a good end, having endured no evil.
(Lloyd-Jones 15).