Sophocles

Biography

Sophocles (c. 496–406 BCE) was an Athenian tragedian who wrote approximately 123 plays, of which seven survive complete. He was a public figure as well as a playwright — he held civic office and served as a military general under Pericles. His life encompassed the height of Athenian democracy, the Persian Wars, the building of the Parthenon, and the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. He competed in the dramatic festivals at the City Dionysia and won first prize approximately 18 times — never finishing lower than second. He died at roughly 90, the year the Peloponnesian War was turning decisively against Athens.

Sophocles at a glance