Sophocles

Sophocles wrote during the height of Classical Athens and is associated with surviving tragedies including Antigone, Oedipus Tyrannus, Electra and Ajax. His plays often turn on the collision between private loyalty, divine order, public authority and incomplete knowledge.

For the site, Sophocles supports Classical pages on Athenian drama, Thebes, Greek myth and fifth-century civic culture. His work is especially relevant where historical fiction draws on tragic structure, heroic reputation or the limits of political power.