As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate disclosure.

Home / People / Sophocles

Historical person

Sophocles

497 BCE–407 BCE

Sophocles was an Athenian tragedian and public figure of the fifth century BC. Plays such as Antigone, Oedipus the King and Ajax explore political authority, divine law, war trauma and the limits of human knowledge.

Sophocles was born in Colonus and died in Athens. Sophocles was repeatedly successful in Athenian dramatic competitions and also held civic and religious offices, including service as a strategos; ancient tradition credited him with major innovations in tragic staging and dramatic structure.

In Sophocles’ The Three Theban Plays, The Three Theban Plays brings together Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone, three tragedies concerned with the destruction and aftermath of the Theban royal house.

Periods

Periods linked to Sophocles

Athenian Tragedy and the City Dionysia5th century BCE

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Sophocles (1 series)

Penguin Classics: Ancient World in Order

by various authors 32 books 4.6(13,212)

Penguin Classics: Ancient World brings together foundational works of literature, history, philosophy, drama and poetry from the earliest civilisations through classical Greece and Rome. The wider Penguin Classics series began in 1946 with E. V. Rieu’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey, reflecting its original aim of making important texts…

All books in this series