5th century BC Athenian tragic playwright
Sophocles
[a]
(
c.
497/496 ? winter 406/405 BC)
[2]
was an
ancient Greek
tragedian
, known as one of three from whom at least one play has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those of
Aeschylus
; and earlier than, or contemporary with, those of
Euripides
. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays,
[3]
but only seven have survived in a complete form:
Ajax
,
Antigone
,
Women of Trachis
,
Oedipus Rex
,
Electra
,
Philoctetes
, and
Oedipus at Colonus
.
[4]
For almost fifty years, Sophocles was the most celebrated playwright in the dramatic competitions of the
city-state
of
Athens
which took place during the religious festivals of the
Lenaea
and the
Dionysia
. He competed in thirty competitions, won twenty-four, and was never judged lower than second place. Aeschylus won thirteen competitions, and was sometimes defeated by Sophocles; Euripides won four.
[5]
The most famous tragedies of Sophocles feature
Oedipus
and
Antigone
: they are generally known as the
Theban plays
, though each was part of a different
tetralogy
(the other members of which are now lost). Sophocles influenced the development of
drama
, most importantly by adding a third actor (attributed to Sophocles by Aristotle; to Aeschylus by Themistius),
[6]
thereby reducing the importance of the
chorus
in the presentation of the
plot
. He also
developed his characters
to a greater extent than earlier playwrights.
[7]
Life
[
edit
]
Sophocles, the son of Sophillus, was a wealthy member of the rural
deme
(small community) of
Hippeios Colonus
in
Attica
, which was to become a setting for one of his plays; and he was probably born there,
[2]
[8]
a few years before the
Battle of Marathon
in 490 BC: the exact year is unclear, but 497/6 is most likely.
[2]
[9]
He was born into a wealthy family (his father was an armour manufacturer), and was highly educated. His first artistic triumph was in 468 BC, when he took first prize in the
Dionysia
, beating the reigning master of Athenian drama,
Aeschylus
.
[2]
[10]
According to
Plutarch
, the victory came under unusual circumstances: instead of following the usual custom of choosing judges by lot, the
archon
asked
Cimon
, and the other
strategoi
present, to decide the victor of the contest. Plutarch further contends that, following this loss, Aeschylus soon left for Sicily.
[11]
Though Plutarch says that this was Sophocles' first production, it is now thought that his first production was probably in 470 BC.
[8]
Triptolemus
was probably one of the plays that Sophocles presented at this festival.
[8]
In 480 BC Sophocles was chosen to lead the
paean
(a choral chant to a god), celebrating the Greek victory over the
Persians
at the
Battle of Salamis
.
[12]
Early in his career, the politician
Cimon
might have been one of his patrons; but, if he was, there was no ill will borne by
Pericles
, Cimon's rival, when Cimon was ostracized in 461 BC.
[2]
In 443/2, Sophocles served as one of the
Hellenotamiai
, or treasurers of Athena, helping to manage the finances of the city during the political ascendancy of Pericles.
[2]
In 441 BC, according to the
Vita Sophoclis
, he was elected one of the ten generals, executive officials at Athens, as a junior colleague of Pericles; and he served in the Athenian campaign against
Samos
. He was supposed to have been elected to this position as the result of his production of
Antigone
,
[13]
but this is "most improbable".
[14]
In 420 BC, he was chosen to receive the image of
Asclepius
in his own house, when the cult was being introduced to Athens, and lacked a proper place (τ?μενο?).
[15]
For this, he was given the posthumous epithet
Dexion
(receiver) by the Athenians.
[16]
But "some doubt attaches to this story".
[15]
He was also elected, in 411 BC, one of the commissioners (
probouloi
) who responded to the catastrophic destruction of the Athenian expeditionary force in
Sicily
during the
Peloponnesian War
.
[17]
Sophocles died at the age of 90 or 91 in the winter of 406/5 BC, having seen, within his lifetime, both the Greek triumph in the
Persian Wars
, and the bloodletting of the Peloponnesian War.
[2]
As with many famous men in classical antiquity, his death inspired a number of apocryphal stories. One claimed that he died from the strain of trying to recite a long sentence from his
Antigone
without pausing to take a breath. Another account suggests he choked while eating grapes at the
Anthesteria
festival in Athens. A third holds that he died of happiness after winning his final victory at the City Dionysia.
[18]
A few months later, a comic poet, in a play titled
The Muses
, wrote this eulogy: "Blessed is Sophocles, who had a long life, was a man both happy and talented, and the writer of many good tragedies; and he ended his life well without suffering any misfortune."
[19]
According to some accounts, however, his own sons tried to have him declared incompetent near the end of his life; and that he refuted their charge in court by reading from his new
Oedipus at Colonus
.
[20]
One of his sons,
Iophon
, and a grandson, also named Sophocles (son of
Ariston
), also became playwrights.
[21]
Homosexuality
[
edit
]
A very ancient source,
Athenaeus
's work
Sophists at Dinner
, contains references to Sophocles' sexuality. In that work, a character named Myrtilus claims that Sophocles "was partial to boys, in the same way that Euripides was partial to women"
[22]
[23]
("φιλομε?ραξ δ? ?ν ? Σοφοκλ??, ?? Ε?ριπ?δη? φιλογ?νη?"),
[24]
and relates an anecdote, attributed to
Ion of Chios
, of Sophocles flirting with a serving-boy at a
symposium
:
βο?λει με ?δ?ω? π?νειν; [...] βραδ?ω? το?νυν κα? πρ?σφερ? μοι κα? ?π?φερε τ?ν κ?λικα.
[24]
Do you want me to enjoy my drink? [...] Then hand me the cup nice and slow, and take it back nice and slow too.
[22]
He also says that
Hieronymus of Rhodes
, in his
Historical Notes
, claims that Sophocles once led a boy outside the city walls for sex; and that the boy snatched Sophocles' cloak (χλαν??,
khlanis
), leaving his own child-sized robe ("παιδικ?ν
?μ?τιον
") for Sophocles.
[25]
[26]
Moreover, when Euripides heard about this (it was much discussed), he mocked the disdainful treatment, saying that he had himself had sex with the boy, "but had not given him anything more than his usual fee"
[27]
("?λλ? μηδ?ν προσθε?ναι"),
[28]
or, "but that nothing had been taken off"
[29]
("?λλ? μηδ?ν προεθ?ναι").
[30]
In response, Sophocles composed this elegy:
?λιο? ?ν
, ο? πα??, Ε?ριπ?δη, ?? με χλια?νων
γυμν?ν ?πο?ησεν· σο? δ? φιλο?ντι † ?τα?ραν †
Βορρ?? ?μ?λησε. σ? δ? ο? σοφ??, ?? τ?ν ?ρωτα,
?λλοτρ?αν σπε?ρων, λωποδ?την ?π?γει?.
[31]
It was the Sun
, Euripides, and not a boy, that got me hot
and stripped me naked. But the North Wind was with you
when you were kissing † a courtesan †. You're not so clever, if you arrest
Eros for stealing clothes while you're sowing another man's field.
[32]
Works and legacy
[
edit
]
Sophocles is known for innovations in
dramatic structure
; deeper development of characters than earlier playwrights;
[7]
and, if it was not Aeschylus, the addition of a third actor,
[33]
which further reduced the role of the
chorus
, and increased opportunities for development and conflict.
[7]
Aeschylus, who dominated
Athenian
playwriting during Sophocles' early career, adopted the third actor into his own work.
[7]
Besides the third actor, Aristotle credits Sophocles with the introduction of
skenographia
, or scenery-painting; but this too is attributed elsewhere to someone else (by Vitruvius, to
Agatharchus of Samos
).
[33]
After Aeschylus died, in 456 BC, Sophocles became the pre-eminent playwright in Athens,
[2]
winning competitions at eighteen
Dionysia
, and six
Lenaia
festivals.
[2]
His reputation was such that foreign rulers invited him to attend their courts; but, unlike Aeschylus, who died in
Sicily
, or Euripides, who spent time in
Macedon
, Sophocles never accepted any of these invitations.
[2]
Aristotle
, in his
Poetics
(
c.
335 BC
), used Sophocles'
Oedipus Rex
as an example of the highest achievement in
tragedy
.
[34]
Only two of the seven surviving plays
[35]
can be dated securely:
Philoctetes
to 409 BC, and
Oedipus at Colonus
to 401 BC (staged after his death, by his grandson). Of the others,
Electra
shows stylistic similarities to these two, suggesting that it was probably written in the later part of his career;
Ajax
,
Antigone
, and
The Trachiniae
, are generally thought early, again based on stylistic elements; and
Oedipus Rex
is put in a middle period. Most of Sophocles' plays show an undercurrent of early
fatalism
, and the beginnings of
Socratic
logic as a mainstay for the long tradition of Greek tragedy.
[36]
[37]
Theban plays
[
edit
]
The Theban plays comprise three plays:
Oedipus Rex
(also called
Oedipus Tyrannus
or
Oedipus the King
),
Oedipus at Colonus
, and
Antigone
. All three concern the fate of
Thebes
during and after the reign of King
Oedipus
.
[38]
They have often been published under a single cover;
[39]
but Sophocles wrote them for separate
festival competitions
, many years apart. The Theban plays are not a proper
trilogy
(i.e. three plays presented as a continuous narrative), nor an intentional series; they contain inconsistencies.
[38]
Sophocles also wrote other plays pertaining to Thebes, such as the
Epigoni
, but only fragments have survived.
[40]
Subjects
[
edit
]
The three plays involve the tale of
Oedipus
, who kills his father and marries his mother, not knowing they are his parents. His family is cursed for three generations.
In
Oedipus Rex
, Oedipus is the
protagonist
. His infanticide is planned by his parents, Laius and Jocasta, to prevent him fulfilling a prophecy; but the servant entrusted with the infanticide passes the infant on, through a series of intermediaries, to a childless couple, who adopt him, not knowing his history. Oedipus eventually learns of the
Delphic Oracle
's prophecy of him, that he would kill his father, and marry his mother; he attempts to flee his fate without harming those he knows as his parents (at this point, he does not know that he is adopted). Oedipus meets a man at a crossroads accompanied by servants; Oedipus and the man fight, and Oedipus kills the man (who was his father, Laius, although neither knew at the time). He becomes the ruler of Thebes after solving the
riddle of the Sphinx
and in the process, marries the widowed queen, his mother Jocasta. Thus the stage is set for horror. When the truth comes out, following from another true but confusing prophecy from Delphi, Jocasta commits suicide, Oedipus blinds himself and leaves Thebes. At the end of the play, order is restored. This restoration is seen when Creon, brother of Jocasta, becomes king, and also when Oedipus, before going off to exile, asks Creon to take care of his children. Oedipus's children will always bear the weight of shame and humiliation because of their father's actions.
[41]
In
Oedipus at Colonus
, the banished Oedipus and his daughter Antigone arrive at the town of
Colonus
, where they encounter
Theseus
, King of
Athens
. Oedipus dies and strife begins between his sons
Polyneices
and
Eteocles
. They fight, and simultaneously run each other through.
In
Antigone
, the protagonist is Oedipus' daughter, Antigone. She is faced with the choice of allowing her brother Polyneices' body to remain unburied, outside the city walls, exposed to the ravages of wild animals, or to bury him and face death. The king of the land, Creon, has forbidden the burial of Polyneices for he was a traitor to the city. Antigone decides to bury his body and face the consequences of her actions. Creon sentences her to death. Eventually, Creon is persuaded to free Antigone from her punishment, but his decision comes too late and Antigone commits suicide. Her suicide triggers the suicide of two others close to King Creon: his son, Haemon, who was to wed Antigone, and his wife, Eurydice, who commits suicide after losing her only surviving son.
Composition and inconsistencies
[
edit
]
The plays were written across thirty-six years of Sophocles' career and were not composed in chronological order, but instead were written in the order
Antigone
,
Oedipus Rex
, and
Oedipus at Colonus
. Nor were they composed as a
trilogy
? a group of plays to be performed together, but are the remaining parts of three different groups of plays. As a result, there are some inconsistencies: notably,
Creon
is the undisputed king at the end of
Oedipus Rex
and, in consultation with Apollo, single-handedly makes the decision to expel Oedipus from Thebes. Creon is also instructed to look after Oedipus' daughters
Antigone
and
Ismene
at the end of
Oedipus Rex
. By contrast, in the other plays there is some struggle with Oedipus' sons
Eteocles
and
Polynices
in regard to the succession. In
Oedipus at Colonus
, Sophocles attempts to work these inconsistencies into a coherent whole:
Ismene
explains that, in light of their tainted family lineage, her brothers were at first willing to cede the throne to Creon. Nevertheless, they eventually decided to take charge of the monarchy, with each brother disputing the other's right to succeed. In addition to being in a clearly more powerful position in
Oedipus at Colonus
, Eteocles and Polynices are also culpable: they consent (l. 429, Theodoridis, tr.) to their father's going to exile, which is one of his bitterest charges against them.
[38]
Other plays
[
edit
]
In addition to the three Theban plays, there are four surviving plays by Sophocles:
Ajax
,
Women of Trachis
,
Electra
, and
Philoctetes
, the last of which won first prize in 409 BC.
[42]
Ajax
focuses on the proud hero of the Trojan War,
Telamonian Ajax
, who is driven to treachery and eventually suicide. Ajax becomes gravely upset when
Achilles
’ armor is presented to
Odysseus
instead of himself. Despite their enmity toward him, Odysseus persuades the kings
Menelaus
and
Agamemnon
to grant Ajax a proper burial.
The Women of Trachis
(named for the Trachinian women who make up the chorus) dramatizes
Deianeira
's accidentally killing
Heracles
after he had completed his famous twelve labors. Tricked into thinking it is a love charm, Deianeira applies poison to an article of Heracles' clothing; this poisoned robe causes Heracles to die an excruciating death. Upon learning the truth, Deianeira commits suicide.
Electra
corresponds roughly to the plot of Aeschylus'
Libation Bearers
. It details how
Electra
and
Orestes
avenge their father
Agamemnon
's murder by
Clytemnestra
and
Aegisthus
.
Philoctetes
retells the story of
Philoctetes
, an archer who had been abandoned on
Lemnos
by the rest of the Greek fleet while on the way to
Troy
. After learning that they cannot win the
Trojan War
without Philoctetes' bow, the Greeks send
Odysseus
and
Neoptolemus
to retrieve him; due to the Greeks' earlier treachery, however, Philoctetes refuses to rejoin the army. It is only Heracles'
deus ex machina
appearance that persuades Philoctetes to go to Troy.
Fragmentary plays
[
edit
]
Although more than 120 titles of plays associated with Sophocles are known and presented below,
[43]
little is known of the precise dating of most of them.
Philoctetes
is known to have been written in 409 BC, and
Oedipus at Colonus
is known to have only been performed in 401 BC, posthumously, at the initiation of Sophocles' grandson. The convention on writing plays for the
Greek festivals
was to submit them in tetralogies of three tragedies along with one
satyr play
. Along with the unknown dating of the vast majority of more than 120 plays, it is also largely unknown how the plays were grouped. It is, however, known that the three plays referred to in the modern era as the "Theban plays" were never performed together in Sophocles' own lifetime, and are therefore not a trilogy (which they are sometimes erroneously seen as).
Fragments of
Ichneutae
(
Tracking Satyrs
) were discovered in
Egypt
in 1907.
[44]
These amount to about half of the play, making it the best preserved
satyr play
after Euripides'
Cyclops
, which survives in its entirety.
[44]
Fragments of the
Epigoni
were discovered in April 2005 by classicists at
Oxford University
with the help of
infrared
technology previously used for
satellite
imaging. The tragedy tells the story of the second siege of
Thebes
.
[40]
A number of other Sophoclean works have survived only in fragments, including:
Sophocles' view of his own work
[
edit
]
There is a passage of
Plutarch
's tract
De Profectibus in Virtute 7
in which Sophocles discusses his own growth as a writer. A likely source of this material for Plutarch was the
Epidemiae
of Ion of Chios, a book that recorded many conversations of Sophocles; but a Hellenistic dialogue about tragedy, in which Sophocles appeared as a character, is also plausible.
[45]
The former is a likely candidate to have contained Sophocles' discourse on his own development because Ion was a friend of Sophocles, and the book is known to have been used by Plutarch.
[46]
Though some interpretations of Plutarch's words suggest that Sophocles says that he imitated Aeschylus, the translation does not fit grammatically, nor does the interpretation that Sophocles said that he was making fun of Aeschylus' works.
C. M. Bowra
argues for the following translation of the line:
"After practising to the full the bigness of Aeschylus, then the painful ingenuity of my own invention, now in the third stage I am changing to the kind of diction which is most expressive of character and best."
[47]
Here Sophocles says that he has completed a stage of Aeschylus' work, meaning that he went through a phase of imitating Aeschylus' style but is finished with that. Sophocles' opinion of Aeschylus was mixed. He certainly respected him enough to imitate his work early on in his career, but he had reservations about Aeschylus' style,
[48]
and thus did not keep his imitation up. Sophocles' first stage, in which he imitated Aeschylus, is marked by "Aeschylean pomp in the language".
[49]
Sophocles' second stage was entirely his own. He introduced new ways of evoking feeling out of an audience, as in his
Ajax
, when Ajax is mocked by Athene, then the stage is emptied so that he may commit suicide alone.
[50]
Sophocles mentions a third stage, distinct from the other two, in his discussion of his development. The third stage pays more heed to diction. His characters spoke in a way that was more natural to them and more expressive of their individual character feelings.
[51]
Locations named after
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Jones, Daniel; Roach, Peter, James Hartman and Jane Setter, eds.
Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary
. 17th edition. Cambridge UP, 2006.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
Sommerstein (2002), p. 41.
- ^
The exact number is unknown, the
Suda
says he wrote 123, another ancient source says 130, but no exact number "is possible", see Lloyd-Jones 2003, p. 3.
- ^
Suda
(ed. Finkel
et al.
): s.v.
Σοφοκλ??
.
- ^
Sophocles
at the
Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^
LLoyd-Jones, H. (ed. and trans.) (1997).
Introduction, in
Sophocles I
. Sophocles. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. p. 9.
ISBN
9780674995574
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Freeman, p. 247.
- ^
a
b
c
Sommerstein (2007), p. xi.
- ^
Lloyd-Jones 1994, p. 7.
- ^
Freeman, p. 246.
- ^
Life of Cimon
8. Plutarch is mistaken about Aeschylus' death during this trip; he went on to produce dramas in Athens for another decade.
- ^
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama: An International Reference Work in 5 Volumes, Volume 1
,
"Sophocles"
.
- ^
Beer 2004, p. 69.
- ^
Lloyd-Jones 1994, p. 12.
- ^
a
b
Lloyd-Jones 1994, p. 13.
- ^
Clinton, Kevin "The Epidauria and the Arrival of Asclepius in Athens", in Ancient Greek Cult Practice from the Epigraphical Evidence, edited by R. Hagg, Stockholm, 1994.
- ^
Lloyd-Jones 1994, pp. 12?13.
- ^
Schultz 1835, pp. 150?51.
- ^
Lucas 1964, p. 128.
- ^
Cicero
recounts this story in his
De Senectute
7.22.
- ^
Sommerstein (2002), pp. 41?42.
- ^
a
b
Athenaeus (2011).
The Learned Banqueters, Volume VII
. Douglas Olson, S. (ed. and trans.). Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. p. 53.
ISBN
9780674996731
.
- ^
Athenaeus
(1854).
The Deipnosophists
. XIII. Translated by Yonge, Charles Duke. London: Henry G. Bohn. pp. 603?4.
LCCN
2002554451
. Retrieved
24 April
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Athenaeus (2011).
The Learned Banqueters, Volume VII
. Douglas Olson, S. (ed. and trans.). Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. p. 52.
ISBN
9780674996731
.
- ^
Athenaeus (2011).
The Learned Banqueters, Volume VII
. Douglas Olson, S. (ed. and trans.). Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. pp. 56?57.
ISBN
9780674996731
.
- ^
Fortenbaugh, William Wall.
Lyco and Traos and Hieronymus of Rhodes: Text, Translation, and Discussion.
Transaction Publishers (2004).
ISBN
978-1-4128-2773-7
. p. 161
- ^
Athenaeus (2011).
The Learned Banqueters, Volume VII
. Douglas Olson, S. (ed. and trans.). Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. p. 57.
ISBN
9780674996731
.
- ^
Athenaeus (2011).
The Learned Banqueters, Volume VII
. Douglas Olson, S. (ed. and trans.). Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. p. 56.
ISBN
9780674996731
.
- ^
Sophocles (1992).
Greek Lyric, Volume IV: Bacchylides, Corinna, and Others
. Campbell, D. A. (ed. and trans.). Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. p. 333.
ISBN
9780674995086
.
- ^
Sophocles (1992).
Greek Lyric, Volume IV: Bacchylides, Corinna, and Others
. Campbell, D. A. (ed. and trans.). Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. p. 332.
ISBN
9780674995086
.
- ^
Athenaeus (2011).
The Learned Banqueters, Volume VII
. Douglas Olson, S. (ed. and trans.). Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. p. 58.
ISBN
9780674996731
.
- ^
Athenaeus (2011).
The Learned Banqueters, Volume VII
. Douglas Olson, S. (ed. and trans.). Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. p. 59.
ISBN
9780674996731
.
- ^
a
b
Lloyd-Jones 1994, p. 9.
- ^
Aristotle.
Ars Poetica
.
- ^
The first printed edition of the seven plays is by Aldus Manutius in Venice 1502: Sophoclis tragaediae [
sic
] septem cum commentariis. Despite the addition 'cum commentariis' in the title, the Aldine edition did not include the ancient scholia to Sophocles. These had to wait until 1518 when Janus Lascaris brought out the relevant edition in Rome.
- ^
Lloyd-Jones 1994, pp. 8?9.
- ^
Scullion, pp. 85?86, rejects attempts to date
Antigone
to shortly before 441/0 based on an anecdote that the play led to Sophocles' election as general. On other grounds, he cautiously suggests
c.
450 BC.
- ^
a
b
c
Sophocles, ed Grene and Lattimore, pp. 1?2.
- ^
See for example:
Sophocles: The Theban Plays
, Penguin Books, 1947;
Sophocles I: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone
, University of Chicago, 1991;
Sophocles: The Theban Plays: Antigone/King Oidipous/Oidipous at Colonus
, Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company, 2002;
Sophocles, The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone
, Harvest Books, 2002; Sophocles,
Works
,
Loeb Classical Library
, Vol I. London: W. Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912 (often reprinted) ? the 1994 Loeb, however, prints Sophocles in chronological order.
- ^
a
b
Murray, Matthew, "
Newly Readable Oxyrhynchus Papyri Reveal Works by Sophocles, Lucian, and Others
.
Archived
11 April 2006 at the
Wayback Machine
",
Theatermania
, 18 April 2005. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
- ^
Sophocles.
Oedipus the King
.
The Norton Anthology of Western Literature
. Gen. ed. Peter Simon. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1984. 648?52. Print.
ISBN
0-393-92572-2
- ^
Freeman, pp. 247?48.
- ^
Lloyd-Jones 2003, pp. 3?9.
- ^
a
b
Seaford, p. 1361.
- ^
Sophocles (1997).
Sophocles I
. Lloyd-Jones, H. (ed. and trans.). Cambridge, MA; London, England: Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. p. 11.
ISBN
9780674995574
.
- ^
Bowra, p. 386.
- ^
Bowra, p. 401.
- ^
Bowra, p. 389.
- ^
Bowra, p. 392.
- ^
Bowra, p. 396.
- ^
Bowra, pp. 385?401.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Beer, Josh (2004).
Sophocles and the Tragedy of Athenian Democracy
. Greenwood Publishing.
ISBN
0-313-28946-8
- Bowra, C. M.
(1940). "Sophocles on His Own Development".
American Journal of Philology
.
61
(4): 385?401.
doi
:
10.2307/291377
.
JSTOR
291377
.
- Finkel, Raphael.
"Adler number: sigma,815"
.
Suda on Line: Byzantine Lexicography
. Retrieved
14 March
2007
.
- Freeman, Charles. (1999).
The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World
. New York: Viking Press.
ISBN
0-670-88515-0
- Hubbard, Thomas K. (2003).
Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: A Sourcebook of Basic Documents
.
- Johnson, Marguerite, & Terry Ryan (2005).
Sexuality in Greek and Roman Society and Literature: A Sourcebook
. Routledge.
ISBN
0-415-17331-0
,
978-0-415-17331-5
- Lloyd-Jones, Hugh, & Wilson, Nigel Guy (ed.) (1990).
Sophoclis: Fabulae
.
Oxford Classical Texts
.
- Lloyd-Jones, Hugh (ed.) (1994).
Sophocles: Ajax. Electra. Oedipus Tyrannus
. Edited and translated by Hugh Lloyd-Jones,
Loeb Classical Library
No. 20.
- Lloyd-Jones, Hugh (ed.) (1994).
Sophocles: Antigone. The Women of Trachis. Philoctetes. Oedipus at Colonus
. Edited and translated by Hugh Lloyd-Jones,
Loeb Classical Library
No. 21.
- Lloyd-Jones, Hugh (ed.) (1996).
Sophocles: Fragments
. Edited and translated by Hugh Lloyd-Jones,
Loeb Classical Library
No. 483.
- Lucas, Donald William (1964).
The Greek Tragic Poets
. W.W. Norton & Co.
- Plato.
Plato in Twelve Volumes
, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
- Schultz, Ferdinand (1835).
De vita Sophoclis poetae commentatio
. Phil. Diss., Berlin.
- Scullion, Scott (2002). "Tragic dates",
Classical Quarterly
, new sequence 52, pp. 81?101.
- Seaford, Richard A. S. (2003). "Satyric drama". In Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth (ed.).
The Oxford Classical Dictionary
(revised 3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 1361.
ISBN
978-0-19-860641-3
.
- Smith, Philip (1867).
"Sophocles"
. In
William Smith
(ed.).
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
. Vol. 3. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. pp. 865?73. Archived from
the original
on 2 February 2007
. Retrieved
19 February
2007
.
- Sommerstein, Alan Herbert (2002).
Greek Drama and Dramatists
. Routledge.
ISBN
0-415-26027-2
- Sommerstein, Alan Herbert (2007). "General Introduction", pp. xi?xxix in Sommerstein, A. H., Fitzpatrick, D.. and Tallboy, T.
Sophocles: Selected Fragmentary Plays: Volume 1
. Aris and Phillips.
ISBN
0-85668-766-9
- Sophocles.
Sophocles I: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone
. 2nd ed. Grene, David, and Lattimore, Richard, eds. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1991.
- Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. "Macropaedia Knowledge In Depth".
The New Encyclopædia Britannica
Volume 20. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2005. 344?46.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikiquote has quotations related to
Sophocles
.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Sophocles
.
|
---|
Extant plays
| |
---|
Fragmentary plays
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Academics
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|