What kind of playwright is sophocles considered to be

Sophocles died in BCE, and he was deeply mourned by his contemporaries. Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors. Mary McMahon. Please enter the following code:. He lived through the upheaval of the Peloponnesian War, which lasted from to , and stripped Athens of her place as cultural and political capital of the Greek city-states.

Many of his plays comment on the long war—perhaps the most famous is Lysistrata, whose heroine leads a sex strike in order to bring about peace. He produced his first play in Before his death in the s he had written 44 comedies, of which we have eleven.

The first great tragedian, Aeschylus, was born around b. He produced his first dramas in , and he had his first victory in We know he was still working in , when he produced his trilogy Oresteia. The grace peculiar to Sophocles' nature makes itself felt in his language, the charm of which was universally praised by the ancients.

With his noble simplicity he takes in this respect also a middle place between the weightiness and boldness of the language of Aeschylus, and the smoothness and rhetorical embellishment which distinguish that of Euripides. Sophocles was a very prolific poet. The number of his plays is given as between and , of which above are known to us by their titles and by fragments.

Only seven have been preserved complete: The Trachinice so named from the chorus, and its treating of the death of Heracles , the Ajax , the Philoctetes , the Electra , the Oedipus Tyrannus , the Oedipus at Colonus , and the Antigone. The last-mentioned play was produced in the spring of B.

Besides tragedies, Sophocles composed paeans, elegies, epigrams, and a work in prose on the chorus. Sources : Green, Richard and Eric Handley. Images of the Greek Theater. Aeschylus Help Page : Outline of Oresteia. Sophocles, the son of a wealthy arms manufacturer, was born probably in B. Like other Greek boys from wealthy families, Sophocles studied poetry, music, dancing, and gymnastics — subjects regarded as the basis of a well-rounded education for a citizen.

His early schooling prepared him to serve as a leader in all aspects of public life, including the military, foreign policy, and the arts. The young Sophocles showed great skill at music and dancing. In fact, at age 15, he won the great honor of leading the boys' chorus in the victory paean joyful song celebrating the Athenian naval victory over the Persians at the battle of Salamis.

This achievement foreshadowed the leadership role Sophocles would have in society, both as an active member of the government and as an influence on Greek arts. Sophocles lived during the Classical Period to B. As a dramatist, Sophocles played an important part in this creation of a civilization, which included looking backward to ancient traditions and the first epic poetry of Greece, written by Homer.

An anonymous biographer of the time called him "the pupil of Homer" — suggesting that Sophocles' great power came to him from the greatest of Greek poets. Sophocles probably also studied under the Greek playwright Aeschylus. If so, then Sophocles' first dramatic success had a very personal significance. In B. Over many years, Sophocles actively participated in Athenian political and cultural life, often in positions of great responsibility.

Besides his contributions as playwright, Sophocles served as a diplomat, general, and even a priest of Alscepius, a minor god of healing. While some of his public service may seem beyond his professional experience as a dramatist, Athenian democracy nevertheless demanded that its citizens take part in all aspects of government.

As Hellenotamias — his official title — Sophocles collected taxes from the states under the control of Athens.