Quick Facts About Sophocles
- Nationality
- Classical Athens
- Profession
- Tragedy Writer
- Notable works
- Antigone
- Known for
- Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Oedipus at Colonus, Ajax, Ichneutae
About Sophocles
Sophocles was an ancient Greek playwright, one of three whose works include at least two complete tragedies. He began writing after or at the same time as Aeschylus and before or alongside Euripides. Of the more than 120 plays he wrote, only seven survive in full: Ajax, Antigone, Women of Trachis, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus. For nearly fifty years he dominated the dramatic contests of Athens held during the Lenaea and Dionysia festivals, entering thirty times and winning twenty‑four, never lower than second place. By contrast, Aeschylus won thirteen contests and Euripides won four.
