Who is sophocles

He was the Imperial Treasurer from to B. E, helping control the funds of the Delian Confederacy for the Athenian Empire. He was also elected as a member of the Board of Generals more than once. He was very religious. He had given up his house for the worship of a God named Asclepius who was the god of medicine, till a proper temple was not constructed.

Sophocles first wife was Nicostrata with whom he had two sons named Iophon and Sophocles. His second wife was Theoris with whom he had one son who was called Ariston. In addition to being an accomplished playwright , Sophocles was also a prominent figure in Greek society, beloved and revered as a true gentleman by Athenian standards.

He was born in BCE in a small rural community, later moving to Athens. As an Athenian, Sophocles was twice elected the position of general, and he served as a priest, at one point allowing his home to be used for religious functions until an appropriate temple could be built.

He was also known for being an amiable, sociable, very friendly man, and these traits were held in high esteem by the Athenians, so he quickly rose to social prominence. He is also said to have been extremely beautiful by Athenian standards. He had three sons by two wives, Nicostrate and Theoris, and he was also an extremely productive playwright, producing an estimated plays, of which seven survive today, in addition to some fragments.

Unlike many famous authors, Sophocles enjoyed fame and accolades during his lifetime, with his work routinely receiving top prizes at Greek dramatic festivals, and after the death of Aeschylus, he dominated the Greek theatre community. The world is orderly and follows natural laws. No matter how good or how well intentioned man may be, if he violates a natural law, he will be punished and he will suffer. Human knowledge is limited, but there is nobility in human suffering.

Again Sophocles concentrates on a character under stress. Described as the most grim of all Greek tragedies, Electra suggests a flaw in the universe. It is less concerned with moral issues than the other two Electra plays. An oppressed and harassed Electra anxiously awaits the return of her avenging brother, Orestes. He returns secretly, first spreading the news that Orestes was killed in a chariot accident.

Electra is constantly at the tomb of her father but is warned by her sister, Chrysothemis, about her constant wailing. Clytemnestra, disturbed by an ominous dream, sends Chrysothemis to offer libations at the tomb.

A quarrel between Clytemnestra and Electra demonstrates the impossibility of reconciliation between mother and daughter. A messenger announcing the death of Orestes and carrying an urn with his ashes stirs up maternal feelings in Clytemnestra, despair in Chrysothemis, and determination to wreak vengeance on her mother and Aegisthus, her mother's consort, in Electra.

The appearance of Orestes rejuvenates Electra, and together they do away with Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. The chorus rejoices that justice has triumphed. The Electra of Sophocles may have been written as an answer to Euripides's Electra.

Matricide and murder are fully justified, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus are completely and utterly evil, and Electra avenges her father's death relentlessly and almost psychopathically. In the Philoctetes, Odysseus is sent with young Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, from Troy to the allegedly uninhabited island of Lemnos to bring back Philoctetes with his bow and his arrows to effect the capture of Troy.

Urged by Odysseus to do his assignment, Neoptolemus, after gaining Philoctetes's confidence suffers pangs of conscience over the old man and refuses to deceive him. He returns Philoctetes's weapons and promises to take him home. A deus ex machina finally convinces Philoctetes to return to Troy voluntarily. The Philoctetes clearly shows how man and society can come into conflict, how society can discard an individual when it does not need him, and how the individual with technological knowhow can bring society to its knees.

The Oedipus at Colonus, produced posthumously, is the most loosely structured, most lyrical, and longest of Sophoclean dramas. It brings to a conclusion Sophocles's concern with the Oedipus theme. Exiled by Creon, in concurrence with Eteocles and Polyneices, Oedipus becomes a wandering beggar accompanied by his daughter Antigone.

He stumbles into a sacred grove of the Eumenides at Colonus, and the chorus of Elders is shocked to discover his identity. Oedipus justifies his past and asks that Theseus be summoned.

Theseus arrives and promises him asylum, but Creon, first deceitfully, then by force, tries to remove Oedipus.

Theseus comes to the rescue and thwarts Creon. The arrival of his son Polyneices produces thunderous rage in Oedipus, who curses both him and Eteocles. Oedipus soon senses his impending death and allows only Theseus to witness the event by which he is transfigured into a hero and a saint. Man is able to overcome all kinds of obstacles and is able to be remarkably inventive and creative, but he is mortal and hence limited, despite an optimistic, progressive outlook.