c. 497–406 BC · Colonus, near Athens · also known as Sophokles
Sophocles wrote some 120 plays for the festivals of Athens, winning first prize more often than any rival; only seven survive. Oedipus the King, in which a king investigating a plague discovers he himself is the cause, was Aristotle’s model of the perfect tragedy, and Antigone, about a young woman who defies the king to bury her brother, still sparks debate about law and conscience.
Begin with Antigone.
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Homer · Aesop · Euripides · Herodotus · Plato · Aristotle · Virgil · Ovid · Marcus Aurelius
Sophocles wrote some 120 plays for the festivals of Athens, winning first prize more often than any rival; only seven survive. Oedipus the King, in which a king investigating a plague discovers he himself is the cause, was Aristotle’s model of the perfect tragedy, and Antigone, about a young woman who defies the king to bury her brother, still sparks debate about law and conscience.
Oedipus the King is usually considered Sophocles’s best-known work, followed by Antigone, Electra, Oedipus at Colonus.
Most readers start with Antigone.
Both refer to the same writer.
Yes — 1 of Sophocles’s books are free to read online in Pagine, the free e-reader and reading tracker.