Sophocles is said to be the "Father of Tragedy". Sophocles was one of the most popular and praised playwrights of his time. Sophocles was much more than a playwright, he was also known as an outstanding Athenian citizen who taught life lessons through his plays. Sophocles was born around 496/5 BC, to a rich noble family from Colonus. Not much is known about Sophocles' life because his biography was not recorded until long after his death. From what we do know, Sophocles was the only one of the great playwrights to have held public office in the Athenian democracy. Within his duties as an Athenian citizen, Sophocles was also a general under the Athenian ruler Pericles, and even led troops against the revolt at Samos. Within his religious life, Sophocles built a temple in honor of Heracles and was also one of the treasurers of the goddess Athena in 443/2 B.C.
Sophocles wrote a total
of seven plays which were all published and well received by his Athenian
audiences. The subjects of these plays, that include King
Oedipus, Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus, all revolve around one
particular historical or legendary event and the moral problems that plague
the main character. This was a departure from the previous Greek
theater performances which only consisted of a chorus of people singing
about the proper morality and righteousness. Sophocles concentrated
on one main character's battle with his problems and how he/she decides
to solve them. Within each problem that is solved is a moral that
Sophocles was trying to teach the people.
Some of the morals presented
in Sophocles' plays were centered on the ideas of human destiny versus
Divine Justice. Sophocles saw a conflict between who man behaved
and what the gods demanded as righteous. Sophocles tried to show in play
after play that excess is an evil, that man must not try to be a god and
that all things in the world are insecure. Sophocles sought to solve
these human problems with the god-like qualities of self-restraint, sincerity
and piety. A good example of this would be the tragedy King Oedipus.
Oedipus tries to be like a god and avoid his destiny. But Oedipus
cannot escape his destiny because it is the will of the gods. He
is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. All his planning and
moving to another country does not save him from his destiny. With
this play, Sophocles sought to teach the people that one must concentrate
on improving oneself rather than trying to change one's destiny.
As one of the most important playwrights of his day, Sophocles is also attributed with some major changes in Greek theater. Sophocles added a third person to the troupe of actors that performs in any Greek play. He also while reducing the importance of the chorus within the play, increased the number of people in the chorus from twelve to fifteen. Some historians also believe that it was Sophocles who introduced scene painting to Greek theater. The most important change that Sophocles added to the world of Greek theater did not have to do with the scenery or the actors, but with the structure of the plays themselves. Rather than presenting three plays with connected plots, he began presenting three plays with unconnected plots but very important moral themes.
Students have studied the words of this fine poet and playwright for two centuries and still find new things to study and discuss. It was Sophocles who first introduced morality and righteousness to the theater. He entertained his audiences while at the same time teaching them important life lessons. Not only did Sophocles write seven wonderful plays, but with them he changed the very meaning of tragedy.
This page was edited and revised by Amelia Dalton, UNST 299, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, November 1997