Sophocles Without Pictures

SOPHOCLES

The life of Sophocles        

496 BC Born at Colonus (suburb of Athens) 480 BC Athens defeats Persia at Salamis 443 BC Serves as financial official in the Delian league 441 BC Elected as general (with Pericles) 420 BC Introduces the worship of Asclepius 413 BC Magistrate at Athens 406 BC Dies 404 BC Athens falls to Sparta

Timeline of major Greek poets       

Homer: 11th/9th centuries BC Hesiod: 9th/8th centuries BC Homeric hymns: 8th/7th c. BC Pindar: 6th c. BC Aeschylus: 6th/5th c. BC Sophocles & Euripides: 5th c. BC (contemporaries of Herodotus) Aristophanes: 5th/4th c. BC 

Sophocles’ life overlapped with that of Aeschylus, Euripides, and Aristophanes

Dramatic career 468 BC debuted at Athens*; defeated Aeschylus  446 BC composed Antigone  438 BC defeated Euripides  429 BC earned second place for his set of plays which included Oedipus Rex  406 BC composed Oedipus at Colonus 

*each entry in the contest at Athens consisted of a composition of 3 tragedies and 1 satyr play (4 plays in all)

Innovations  Chorus

increased from 12 members to 15  Painted scenery  Third main character in any given scene

Other notables  Of

his 120 plays, only 7 tragedies survive  Of his 30 productions, he won first place at least 20 times