Sophocles - Rodriguez Simental

Date of Birth and Location

497 BCE

Sophocles was born in 497 BCE. He was born at Colonus, a village outside the walls of Athens, where his father, Sophillus, was a wealthy manufacturer of armour.

Sophocles Parents

497 BCE

Sophocles father is Sophilus, who was a rich member of small community, the rural 'Deme'. Sophocles mother was unknown.

Education

480 BCE

Sophocles himself received a good education. Because of his beauty of physique, his athletic prowess, and his skill in music, he was chosen in 480, when he was 16, to lead the paean celebrating the decisive Greek sea victory over the Persians at the Battle of Salamis.

Sophocles Talents

480 BCE

He grew up during the most brilliant intellectual period of Athens. Sophocles won awards while in school for music and wrestling, and because of his constant activity he was known as the "Attic Bee." His music teacher was Lamprus, a famous composer. Tradition says that because of his beauty and talent, Sophocles was chosen to lead the male chorus at the celebration of the Greek victory over the Persians at Salamis.

Sophocles first victory at the Dionysian Dramatic Festival

468 BCE

Sophocles won his first victory at the Dionysian dramatic festival in 468. This began a career of unparalleled success and longevity. In total, Sophocles wrote 123 dramas for the festivals.

Sophocles defeated the famous playwright

468 BCE

In 468 B.C.E. Sophocles defeated the famous playwright Aeschylus (525–456 B.C.E. ) in one of the drama contests common at the time. He gained first prize more than any other Greek dramatist. He was also known for being friendly and popular.

Sophocles is said to have written

468 BCE

Of the approximately 125 tragedies that Sophocles is said to have written, only 7 have survived. According to the Greek biographer Plutarch (46–119), there were three periods in Sophocles's development as a writer: imitation of the style of Aeschylus, use of an artificial style, and use of a style that is most expressive of character. The existing plays are from the last period.

Ajax vows revenge on the Greek commanders

447 BCE

Ajax vows revenge on the Greek commanders as well as on Odysseus. Except, the goddess Athena makes him believe he is attacking the Greeks when he is in fact attacking sheep. When he realizes what he has done, he is so upset that he commits suicide.

Sophocles's seven known plays

447 BCE

The dates of Sophocles's seven known plays are not all certain. In Ajax (447 B.C.E. ) the hero, described as second only to Achilles, is humiliated (reduced to a lower position in the eyes of others) by Agamemnon and Menelaus when they award the arms of Achilles to Odysseus.

Sophocles served the Athenian empire as imperial treasurer

443 BCE

From 443 to 442 B.C.E. Sophocles served the Athenian empire as imperial treasurer, and he was elected general at least twice. His religious activities included service as a priest, and he turned over his house for the worship of Asclepius (the Greek god of medicine) until a proper temple could be built. For this he was honored with the title Dexion as a hero after his death.

Served as treasurer

442 BCE

In 442 he served as one of the treasurers responsible for receiving and managing tribute money from Athens’s subject-allies in the Delian League.

Sophocles Family

442 BCE

Sophocles had two sons, Iophon and Sophocles, by his first wife, Nicostrata. He had a third son, Ariston, by his second wife, Theoris.

Elected as strategoi

440 BCE

In 440 he was elected one of the 10 strategoi as junior colleague of Pericles.

Electra

418 BCE

Electra (418–414 B.C.E. ) is Sophocles's only play whose theme is similar to those of the works of Aeschylus ( Libation Bearers ) and Euripides (484–406 B.C.E. ; Electra ). Again Sophocles concentrates on a character under stress: a worried Electra, anxiously awaiting the return of her avenging brother, Orestes. In Philoctetes (409 B.C.E. ) Odysseus is sent with young Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, to the island of Lemnos to bring back Philoctetes with his bow and arrows to help capture Troy.

Served as Strategos

413 BCE

Sophocles later served as strategos perhaps twice again. In 413, then aged about 83, Sophocles was a proboulos, one of 10 advisory commissioners who were granted special powers and were entrusted with organizing Athens’s financial and domestic recovery after its terrible defeat at Syracuse in Sicily.

All seven of the complete plays

409 BCE

All seven of the complete plays are works of Sophocles’ maturity, but only two of them, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus, have fairly certain dates. Ajax is generally regarded as the earliest of the extant plays. Some evidence suggests that Antigone was first performed in 442 or 441 BCE. Philoctetes was first performed in 409, when Sophocles was 90 years old, and Oedipus at Colonus was said to have been produced after Sophocles’ death by his grandson.

Leading chorus

406 BCE

Sophocles’ last recorded act was to lead a chorus in public mourning for his deceased rival, Euripides, before the festival of 406. He died the same year.

Sophocles Death Date

406 BCE

Sophocles died in 406 BCE.

These few facts

404 BCE

These few facts are about all that is known of Sophocles’ life. They imply steady and distinguished attachment to Athens, its government, religion, and social forms. Sophocles was wealthy from birth, highly educated, noted for his grace and charm, on easy terms with the leading families, a personal friend of prominent statesmen, and in many ways fortunate to have died before the final surrender of Athens to Sparta in 404.

Oedipus at Colonus

401 BCE

Oedipus at Colonus (401 B.C.E. ), produced after Sophocles's death, is the longest of his dramas. It brings to a conclusion his concern with the Oedipus theme. Exiled by Creon, Oedipus becomes a wandering beggar accompanied by his daughter Antigone. He stumbles into a sacred grove at Colonus and asks that Theseus be summoned. Theseus arrives and promises him protection, but Creon tries to remove Oedipus.