
Sophocles (early 5th century BC–406 BC; Greek language: Σοφοκλης) was an Ancient Greece playwright, dramatist, priest, and politician of Athens. He is known as the second, chronologically, of the three great Greek tragedy; Sophocles was several decades younger than Aeschylus and a decade or so older than Euripides, and was often in competition with both in dramatic contests. The year of his birth is contested, with 488, 495, and 496 BC each having advocates. 495 BC however is preferred by most eminent historians. He is most noted for his prolific playwriting. He wrote 123 plays; in the dramatic competitions of the Festival of Dionysus (where each submission by one author consisted of four plays), he won more first prizes (around 20) than any other playwright, and there is no record of his ever having ranked below second place. Many scholars, including Aristotle, considered Sophocles to be the greatest playwright in ancient Greek theatre. However, of the hundreds of works he produced in his lifetime, only seven tragedies survive in their complete forms, along with around half of a satyr play. (Sixty to 90 others exist in fragments). The most famous of his surviving works are his famous three Theban plays, the tragedies surrounding Oedipus and Antigone. ==Life== Sophocles was born about a mile northwest of Athens, in the rural ''deme'' (small community) of Colonus Hippius in Attica. His birth took place five years before the Battle of Marathon, and fifteen before the Battle of Salamis. His father, Sophilos (sometimes "Sophillus"), was a wealthy merchant. Some historians speculate that Sophilos was a carpenter, smith, or swordmaker; the majority believe he ran some kind of Weapon business or factory that employed people of many occupations. As a boy, Sophocles was educated in the arts and at a palaestra. He won awards in wrestling and music, and was said to be graceful and handsome. At the age of 16, he was chosen to lead the chorus of naked boys (''paean'') at the Athenian celebration of the victory against the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. Twelve years later, Sophocles first entered the Festival of Dionysus with his play ''The Triptolemos''. He took first prize, defeating even Aeschylus. Surprisingly, Sophocles's most famous play, ''Oedipus the King'', only won second place. In 440, Sophocles was elected as one of the ten strategos (military commanders) of Athens. ==Surviving works== ''Years are approximate'' ===The Theban plays=== * (442BC) ''Antigone (Sophocles)'' * (427BC) ''Oedipus the King'' (''Oedipus Rex'' or ''Oedipus Tyrannos'') * (407BC) ''Oedipus at Colonus'' ===Other plays=== * (445BC) ''Ajax (Sophocles)'' * (413BC) ''The Trachiniae'' * (410BC) ''Electra (Sophocles)'' * (410BC) ''Philoctetes'' ===Fragmentary plays=== * (5th Century BC) ''The Tracking Satyrs'' * (5th Century BC) ''The Progeny'' Fragments of ''The Tracking Satyrs'' (Ichneutae) were discovered in Egypt in 1907. It is one of only two recovered satyr plays. Fragments of ''The Progeny'' (Epigonoi) were discovered in April 2005 by classicists at Oxford University, employing infrared technology previously used for satellite imaging. The tragedy tells the story of the siege of Thebes (Greece). The fragment translates to the following: :''Speaker A: . . . gobbling the whole, sharpening the flashing iron.'' :''Speaker B: And the helmets are shaking their purple-dyed crests, and for the wearers of breast-plates the weavers are striking up the wise shuttle's songs, that wakes up those who are asleep.'' :''Speaker A: And he is gluing together the chariot's rail.'' [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=630165] ==Trivia== An asteroid, 2921 Sophocles, was named after him. ==External links== * 406 BC deaths Ancient Athenians Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights Poets
''the ancient Life of Sophocles [...] says the boys were naked and shiny with oil'' [http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/sophocles.htm sophocles the man] Somebody apparently disapproved of this and deleted the word ''naked'' from the article. I am re-inserting the word (with link). Sebastjan [S's lk fixed by User:JerzyUser talk:Jerzy 19:04, 2004 Dec 4 (UTC)] == Removed Notes== Footnotes are not standard in WP, and not needed here. (& BTW, if there are places where they are needed, this is hypertext and they should exploit links.) The text has been fixed w/o footnotes, but the following info is retained here for use in further research: With regard to his DoB: : 1. ''The Life of Sophocles'' gives the date 495, while the Suda gives 488.
Re :: He wrote 123 plays and had 24 victories2 in the dramatic competitions in the Festival of Dionysus, more than any other. : 2. Some sources say 20, while others say 19. --User:JerzyUser talk:Jerzy 19:04, 2004 Dec 4 (UTC) ::The use of footnotes and reference is growing more standard. Please don't remove them. See Wikipedia:Cite Sources User:Rmhermen 03:47, Apr 20, 2005 (UTC) ---- == Removed "Biography" == The removed external link to the male homosexual site and its material used in the article * was not a biography, but only discussed allegations about Sophocles' sex life * the website demonstrates grounds of being unreliable ** it didn't make use of proper citations so the information can be checked ** it mis-cited Plato as if he were the primary source of his alleged opinions about Sophocles * the source that the website did cite was unreliable ** it took the form of after-dinner gossip ** it was written 7 centuries after Sophocles ::Information about Sophocles is fair game for the article, and the accounts were presented as just that, accounts. Considering that none of the other information in this article is properly sourced, it is not clear on what grounds you chose to delete the material you removed. I will look up the sources so as to have a more solid grounding in the scholarship and then will repost. I will not suggest to you that you also look up the sources for any other material you may want to keep in the article. The fact is that if you have chosen Sophocles as the man to defend against accusations of sodomy you have probably picked a lost cause. Claudius may be a better bet. User:Haiduc 23:40, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Stop immediately. This is your final warning. Any more funny stuff and I'll ban you right away. Neutrality\">User:Neutrality_(User_talk:Neutrality)">User:Neutrality|Neutrality\">User:Neutrality (User talk:Neutrality) 21:07, Oct 18, 2004 (UTC)
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Words begining with Sophocles:
Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophoclès
Sophoclese
Sophocles_Sarcophagus
Sophocles
Sophocles (early 5th century BC–406 BC; Greek language: Σοφοκλης) was an Ancient Greece playwright, dramatist, priest, and politician of Athens. He is known as the second, chronologically, of the three great Greek tragedy; Sophocles was several decades younger than Aeschylus and a decade or so older than Euripides, and was often in competition with both in dramatic contests. The year of his birth is contested, with 488, 495, and 496 BC each having advocates. 495 BC however is preferred by most eminent historians. He is most noted for his prolific playwriting. He wrote 123 plays; in the dramatic competitions of the Festival of Dionysus (where each submission by one author consisted of four plays), he won more first prizes (around 20) than any other playwright, and there is no record of his ever having ranked below second place. Many scholars, including Aristotle, considered Sophocles to be the greatest playwright in ancient Greek theatre. However, of the hundreds of works he produced in his lifetime, only seven tragedies survive in their complete forms, along with around half of a satyr play. (Sixty to 90 others exist in fragments). The most famous of his surviving works are his famous three Theban plays, the tragedies surrounding Oedipus and Antigone. ==Life== Sophocles was born about a mile northwest of Athens, in the rural ''deme'' (small community) of Colonus Hippius in Attica. His birth took place five years before the Battle of Marathon, and fifteen before the Battle of Salamis. His father, Sophilos (sometimes "Sophillus"), was a wealthy merchant. Some historians speculate that Sophilos was a carpenter, smith, or swordmaker; the majority believe he ran some kind of Weapon business or factory that employed people of many occupations. As a boy, Sophocles was educated in the arts and at a palaestra. He won awards in wrestling and music, and was said to be graceful and handsome. At the age of 16, he was chosen to lead the chorus of naked boys (''paean'') at the Athenian celebration of the victory against the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. Twelve years later, Sophocles first entered the Festival of Dionysus with his play ''The Triptolemos''. He took first prize, defeating even Aeschylus. Surprisingly, Sophocles's most famous play, ''Oedipus the King'', only won second place. In 440, Sophocles was elected as one of the ten strategos (military commanders) of Athens. ==Surviving works== ''Years are approximate'' ===The Theban plays=== * (442BC) ''Antigone (Sophocles)'' * (427BC) ''Oedipus the King'' (''Oedipus Rex'' or ''Oedipus Tyrannos'') * (407BC) ''Oedipus at Colonus'' ===Other plays=== * (445BC) ''Ajax (Sophocles)'' * (413BC) ''The Trachiniae'' * (410BC) ''Electra (Sophocles)'' * (410BC) ''Philoctetes'' ===Fragmentary plays=== * (5th Century BC) ''The Tracking Satyrs'' * (5th Century BC) ''The Progeny'' Fragments of ''The Tracking Satyrs'' (Ichneutae) were discovered in Egypt in 1907. It is one of only two recovered satyr plays. Fragments of ''The Progeny'' (Epigonoi) were discovered in April 2005 by classicists at Oxford University, employing infrared technology previously used for satellite imaging. The tragedy tells the story of the siege of Thebes (Greece). The fragment translates to the following: :''Speaker A: . . . gobbling the whole, sharpening the flashing iron.'' :''Speaker B: And the helmets are shaking their purple-dyed crests, and for the wearers of breast-plates the weavers are striking up the wise shuttle's songs, that wakes up those who are asleep.'' :''Speaker A: And he is gluing together the chariot's rail.'' [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=630165] ==Trivia== An asteroid, 2921 Sophocles, was named after him. ==External links== * 406 BC deaths Ancient Athenians Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights Poets
Sophocles
''the ancient Life of Sophocles [...] says the boys were naked and shiny with oil'' [http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/sophocles.htm sophocles the man] Somebody apparently disapproved of this and deleted the word ''naked'' from the article. I am re-inserting the word (with link). Sebastjan [S's lk fixed by User:JerzyUser talk:Jerzy 19:04, 2004 Dec 4 (UTC)] == Removed Notes== Footnotes are not standard in WP, and not needed here. (& BTW, if there are places where they are needed, this is hypertext and they should exploit links.) The text has been fixed w/o footnotes, but the following info is retained here for use in further research: With regard to his DoB: : 1. ''The Life of Sophocles'' gives the date 495, while the Suda gives 488.
Re :: He wrote 123 plays and had 24 victories2 in the dramatic competitions in the Festival of Dionysus, more than any other. : 2. Some sources say 20, while others say 19. --User:JerzyUser talk:Jerzy 19:04, 2004 Dec 4 (UTC) ::The use of footnotes and reference is growing more standard. Please don't remove them. See Wikipedia:Cite Sources User:Rmhermen 03:47, Apr 20, 2005 (UTC) ---- == Removed "Biography" == The removed external link to the male homosexual site and its material used in the article * was not a biography, but only discussed allegations about Sophocles' sex life * the website demonstrates grounds of being unreliable ** it didn't make use of proper citations so the information can be checked ** it mis-cited Plato as if he were the primary source of his alleged opinions about Sophocles * the source that the website did cite was unreliable ** it took the form of after-dinner gossip ** it was written 7 centuries after Sophocles ::Information about Sophocles is fair game for the article, and the accounts were presented as just that, accounts. Considering that none of the other information in this article is properly sourced, it is not clear on what grounds you chose to delete the material you removed. I will look up the sources so as to have a more solid grounding in the scholarship and then will repost. I will not suggest to you that you also look up the sources for any other material you may want to keep in the article. The fact is that if you have chosen Sophocles as the man to defend against accusations of sodomy you have probably picked a lost cause. Claudius may be a better bet. User:Haiduc 23:40, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Sophoclès
Stop immediately. This is your final warning. Any more funny stuff and I'll ban you right away. Neutrality\">User:Neutrality_(
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
S
SB | SC | SD | SE | SF | SG | SH | SI | SJ | SK | SL | SM | SN | SO | SP | SR | SS | ST | SU | SW | SX | SY | SZ |Words begining with Sophocles:
Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophoclès
Sophoclese
Sophocles_Sarcophagus
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