Sophocles - biography, works. Sophocles short biography The Athenian playwright loved to pit heroes against each other
One of the three greatest tragic poets of classical antiquity. Sophocles was born in the village of Colon (the setting of his last drama), located about 2.5 km north of the Acropolis. His father, Sofill, was a wealthy man. Sophocles studied music with Lampre, an outstanding representative of the high school, and also won prizes in athletic competitions. In his youth, Sophocles was distinguished by his extraordinary beauty, which is probably why he was assigned to lead a choir of young men who sang hymns of thanks to the gods after the victory over the Persians at Salamis (480 BC). Twelve years later (468 BC) Sophocles took part in theatrical festivals for the first time and won first prize, surpassing his great predecessor Aeschylus. The competition between the two poets aroused keen interest among the public. From that moment until his death, Sophocles remained the most popular of the Athenian playwrights: more than 20 times he was first in the competition, many times second, and never took third place (there were always three participants). He had no equal in terms of the volume of writing: it is reported that Sophocles wrote 123 dramas. Sophocles enjoyed success not only as a playwright, he was generally a popular personality in Athens. Sophocles, like all Athenians in the 5th century, actively participated in public life. He may have been a member of the important college of treasurers of the Athenian League in 443–442 BC, and it is certain that Sophocles was chosen as one of the ten generals who commanded the punitive expedition against Samos in 440 BC. Perhaps Sophocles was elected strategos twice more. Already at a very old age, when Athens was going through an era of defeat and despair, Sophocles was elected one of the ten “probuli” (Greek “advisor”), who were entrusted with the fate of Athens after the disaster that befell the expedition to Sicily (413 BC. ). Thus, Sophocles’s successes in the public sphere are not inferior to his poetic achievements, which is quite typical both for Athens in the 5th century and for Sophocles himself.
Sophocles was famous not only for his devotion to Athens, but also for his piety. It is reported that he founded the sanctuary of Hercules and was the priest of one of the minor healing deities, Chalon or Alcon, associated with the cult of Asclepius, and that he entertained the god Asclepius in his own home until his temple at Athens was completed. (The cult of Asclepius was established in Athens in 420 BC; the deity that Sophocles hosted was almost certainly the sacred serpent.) After his death, Sophocles was deified under the name "hero Dexion" (a name derived from the root "dex- ", in Greek "to receive", perhaps recalls how he "received" Asclepius).
There is a widely known anecdote about how Sophocles was summoned to court by his son Jophon, who wanted to prove that his elderly father was no longer able to manage the family’s property. And then Sophocles convinced the judges of his mental competence by reciting an ode in honor of Athens from Oedipus at Colonus. This story is certainly fictitious, since reports from contemporaries confirm that Sophocles’s last years were as serene as the beginning of his life, and he maintained the best relations with Iophon to the end. The last thing we know about Sophocles is his action upon receiving news of the death of Euripides (in the spring of 406 BC). Then Sophocles dressed the choir members in mourning and led them to the “proagon” (a kind of dress rehearsal before the tragedian competition) without festive wreaths. In January 405 BC, when Aristophanes' comedy was staged frogs, Sophocles was no longer alive.
Contemporaries saw in his life a continuous series of successes. “Blessed Sophocles,” exclaims the comedian Phrynichus in Muses(delivered in January 405 BC). “He died after living a long life, he was happy, smart, composed many beautiful tragedies and died safely, without experiencing any troubles.”
The seven tragedies that have come down to us, by all accounts, belong to the late period of Sophocles’ work. (In addition, a papyrus was published in 1912, preserving more than 300 complete lines from the amusing satyr drama Pathfinders.) Based on ancient sources, the dates of the tragedies have been reliably established Philoctetes(409 BC), Oedipus at Colonus(posthumous staging 401 BC) and Antigone(a year or two before 440 BC). Tragedy Tsar Oedipus usually dated to 429 BC, since the mention of the sea may be associated with a similar disaster in Athens. Tragedy Ajax according to stylistic features it should be attributed to an earlier period than Antigone, regarding the two remaining plays, philologists have not reached a consensus, although the majority suggests a fairly early date for the tragedy Fucking girls(before 431 BC) and later - for Electra(c. 431 BC). So the seven surviving plays can be arranged roughly in this order: Ajax,Antigone,Fucking girls,Oedipus the King, Electra,Philoctetes,Oedipus at Colonus. It is known that Sophocles received the first prize for Philoctetes and the second - for Oedipus the King. Probably the first place was awarded Antigone, since it is known that it was thanks to this tragedy that Sophocles was elected strategos in 440 BC. There is no information about other tragedies; it is only known that all of them were awarded either first or second place.
Technique.
Sophocles' most striking innovation in the genre of Attic tragedy was the reduction in the scope of drama by abandoning the trilogy form. As far as we know, the three tragedies that Sophocles presented at the annual competition were always three independent works, without any plot connections between them (therefore, talking about tragedies Antigone, Oedipus the King And Oedipus at Colonus as about the “Theban Trilogy” means making a grave mistake). The tragedies of Aeschylus (with the exception of the trilogy, which included Persians) were invariably united into a trilogy in the literal sense of the word - into a dramatic work in three parts, connected by a common plot, common characters and motives. Sophocles' drama takes us from a cosmic perspective of action (the will of the deity is carried out in the actions and sufferings of people from generation to generation) to a condensed presentation of a given moment of crisis and revelation. It is enough to compare Oresteia Aeschylus, where the central event, matricide, is preceded by a depiction of its causes ( Agamemnon), and then its consequences are shown ( Eumenides), with a mysterious Elektroy Sophocles, a tragedy in which the dramatic presentation of the main event turns out to be self-sufficient. The new technology made the divine will, which in Aeschylus interferes with the action, overcoming the human motives of the heroes, not so significant, and especially emphasized the importance of the human will. The consequences of this shift in emphasis were twofold. On the one hand, Sophocles could concentrate entirely on the character of his heroes, bringing to the stage a whole series of surprisingly unique characters (for example, Electra we are dealing with a spectacular move when the character of a character who takes almost no part in the action is subjected to a full-scale and subtle analysis). On the other hand, due to the unprecedented savings of funds for the development of the plot, Sophocles in his best examples (for example, Oedipus the King) has no equal in the entire history of Western literature.
It was to be expected that the abandonment of the trilogy would entail a reduction in the role of the chorus, which in Aeschylus’s dramas invariably correlates the actions and sufferings of the individual with the whole picture of divine providence, connecting the present with the past and the future. And in fact, the lyrical part of the chorus in Sophocles is much smaller than in Aeschylus. IN Philoctethes(to take an extreme case) the chorus becomes fully involved in the action as full-fledged characters, and almost everything that is said to them revolves around the specific situation of the drama. However, in most tragedies Sophocles still skillfully and carefully uses the chorus to give greater dimension to the moral and theological dilemma posed by the action.
But most of all, Sophocles was glorified by another technical innovation: the appearance of a third actor. This happened earlier than 458 BC, since in this year Aeschylus already uses in Oresteia the third actor, albeit in his own, Aeschylean way. The goal that Sophocles pursued by introducing a third actor becomes obvious when reading the brilliant scenes with three participants, which are perhaps the pinnacle of Sophoclean drama. Such, for example, is the conversation between Oedipus, the Messenger from Corinth and the shepherd ( Oedipus the King), as well as an earlier scene in the same tragedy - while Oedipus questions the Messenger, Jocasta already begins to see the terrible truth. The same applies to the cross-examination of Lich in Trakhinyanki, which is arranged by the Messenger and Dejanira. Aristotle’s indication that Sophocles also introduced “scenography”, i.e. literally translated from Greek as “painting the stage,” still gives rise to disputes between specialists, which can hardly be resolved due to the extreme paucity of information about the technical side of theatrical productions in the 5th century.
Worldview.
The fact that the playwright's attention is focused on the actions of people, and the divine will is relegated to the background, i.e. it tends to appear in the play as a prophecy rather than a root cause or direct intervention in the action, suggesting that the author took a "humanistic" point of view (however, an elegant attempt has recently been made to characterize Sophocles' worldview as "heroic heroism"). However, Sophocles makes a different impression on most readers. The few details of his life that we know indicate deep religiosity, and the tragedies confirm this. In many of them, we are presented with a person who, during the crisis he is experiencing, is faced with the riddle of the universe, and this riddle, disgracing all human cunning and insight, inevitably brings upon him defeat, suffering and death. The typical hero of Sophocles completely relies on his knowledge at the beginning of the tragedy, and ends with an admission of complete ignorance or doubt. Human ignorance is a recurring theme of Sophocles. It finds its classic and most terrifying expression in King Oedipus, however, is also present in other plays; even Antigone’s heroic enthusiasm turns out to be poisoned by doubt in her final monologue. Human ignorance and suffering are opposed by the mystery of a deity who has full knowledge (his prophecies invariably come true). This deity represents a certain image of perfect order and, perhaps, even justice, incomprehensible to the human mind. The underlying motive of Sophocles' tragedies is humility before the incomprehensible forces that direct the fate of man in all its secrecy, greatness and mystery.
With such a world order, the human will to action should weaken, if not completely disappear, but Sophocles’ heroes are distinguished by a stubborn focus on action or knowledge, and they are characterized by a fierce assertion of their independence. Oedipus the King persistently and adamantly seeks the truth about himself, despite the fact that he will have to pay for the truth with his reputation, power and, ultimately, his eyesight. Ajax, finally realizing the precariousness of human existence, abandons it and fearlessly throws himself on the sword. Philoctetes, despising the persuasion of his friends, the implicit command of the oracle and the promise of healing from a painful illness, stubbornly rejects his heroic destiny; to convince him, the appearance of the deified Hercules is required. Likewise, Antigone despises public opinion and the threat of the death penalty from the state. No playwright has been able to so heroize the power of the human spirit. The precarious balance between the omniscient providence of the gods and the heroic onslaught of human will becomes a source of dramatic tension, thanks to which Sophocles' plays are still full of life, not only when read, but also on the theater stage.
TRAGEDIES
Ajax.
The action of the tragedy begins from the moment when Ajax, bypassed by a reward (the armor of the deceased Achilles, intended for the bravest hero, was awarded to Odysseus) decided to put an end to both kings Atrides and Odysseus, but in the madness sent by the goddess Athena, he destroyed the cattle captured from the Trojans. In the prologue, Athena demonstrates Ajax's madness to his enemy, Odysseus. Odysseus regrets Ajax, but the goddess knows no compassion. In the next scene, Ajax’s reason returns and, with the help of the captive concubine Tecmessa, the hero becomes aware of what he has done. Realizing the truth, Ajax decides to commit suicide, despite Tecmessa's touching entreaties. There follows a famous scene in which Ajax is presented reflecting on a plan with himself, his speech is full of ambiguities, and at the end of it the choir, believing that Ajax has abandoned the idea of suicide, sings a joyful song. However, in the very next scene (which has no parallels in the Attic tragedy), Ajax is stabbed to death in front of the audience. His brother Teucer appears too late to save Ajax’s life, but he manages to defend the body of the deceased from the Atrides, who wanted to leave their enemy without burial. Two scenes of a furious argument lead the opponents to a dead end, but with the appearance of Odysseus the situation is resolved: he manages to convince Agamemnon to allow an honorable burial.
Antigone.
Antigone decides to bury her brother Polyneices, who died while trying to conquer his hometown. She does this despite the order of Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, according to which Polyneices’ body should be thrown to the birds and dogs. The guards grab the girl and bring her to Creon; Antigone despises the ruler's threats, and he sentences her to death. Creon's son Haemon (Antigone's fiancé) tries in vain to soften his father. Antigone is taken away and imprisoned in an underground dungeon (Creon commuted his original sentence - stoning), and in her remarkable monologue, which, however, some publishers do not recognize as truly Sophoclean, Antigone tries to analyze the motives of her action, ultimately reducing them to purely personal affection to her brother and forgetting about the religious and family duty to which she referred initially. The prophet Tiresias orders Creon to bury Polyneices, Creon tries to object, but in the end gives up and goes to bury the deceased, as well as free Antigone, but the messenger sent reports that when he arrived in prison, Antigone had already hanged herself. Haemon draws his sword to threaten his father, but then turns the weapon against himself. Having learned about this, Creon's wife Eurydice leaves the house in grief and also commits suicide. The tragedy ends with the incoherent lamentations of Creon, who carried the body of his son onto the stage.
Oedipus the King.
The people of Thebes come to Oedipus with a plea to save the city from the plague. Creon announces that first it is necessary to punish the murderer of Laius, who was king before Oedipus. Oedipus begins searching for the criminal. Tiresias, summoned on the advice of Creon, accuses Oedipus himself of the murder. Oedipus sees in all this a conspiracy inspired by Creon and sentences him to death, but reverses his decision, succumbing to the persuasion of Jocasta. The complex plots that follow are difficult to retell. Oedipus brings the search for the murderer and the truth hidden from him to the sad conclusion that the murderer of Laius is himself, that Laius was his father, and his wife Jocasta is his mother. In a terrifying scene, Jocasta, having guessed the truth before Oedipus, tries to stop his persistent search, and when she fails, she retires to the royal palace to hang herself there. In the next scene, Oedipus also realizes the truth; he also runs into the palace, after which the Messenger comes out to report: the king has lost his sight. Soon Oedipus himself appears before the audience with his face covered in blood. What follows is the most heartbreaking scene in the entire tragedy. In his final dialogue with Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, Oedipus copes with himself and partially regains his former self-confidence.
Electra.
Orestes returns to his native Argos along with the Mentor, who accompanied him in exile. The young man intends to enter the palace under the guise of a stranger who brought an urn with the ashes of Orestes, who allegedly died in a chariot race. From this moment on, Electra becomes the dominant person on the stage, who, since the killers dealt with her father, has lived in poverty and humiliation, nurturing hatred in her soul. In dialogues with her sister Chrysothemis and mother Clytemnestra, Electra reveals the full extent of her hatred and determination to take revenge. The Mentor appears with a message about the death of Orestes. Electra is deprived of her last hope, but still tries to persuade Chrysothemis to join her and attack Clytemnestra and Aegisthus together, but when her sister refuses, Electra swears that she will do everything herself. Here Orestes enters the scene with a funeral urn. Electra makes a touching farewell speech over her, and Orestes, who recognized his sister in this embittered, aged woman dressed in rags, loses his restraint, forgets his original plan and reveals the truth to her. The joyful embrace of brother and sister is interrupted by the arrival of the Mentor, who returns Orestes to reality: it is time for him to go kill his mother. Orestes obeys, and after leaving the palace, he answers all Electra’s questions with dark, ambiguous speeches. The tragedy ends in an extremely dramatic scene when Aegisthus, bending over the body of Clytemnestra and believing that it is the corpse of Orestes, reveals the face of the murdered woman and recognizes her. Spurred on by Orestes, he goes into the house to meet his death.
Philoctetes.
On the way to Troy, the Greeks left Philoctetes, suffering from the consequences of a snake bite, on the island of Lemnos. In the last year of the siege, the Greeks learn that Troy will submit only to Philoctetes, who wields the bow of Hercules. Odysseus and Neoptolemus, the young son of Achilles, travel to Lemnos to deliver Philoctetes to Troy. Of the three ways to master a hero - force, persuasion, deception - they choose the latter. The intrigue turns out to be perhaps the most intricate in Greek tragedy, and therefore it is not easy to summarize it briefly. However, we see how, through all the intricacies of the plot, Neoptolemus gradually abandons the lies in which he has become entangled, so that the character of his father speaks in him with increasing force. In the end, Neoptolemus reveals the truth to Philoctetes, but Odysseus intervenes, and Philoctetes is left alone, having his bow taken away. However, Neoptolemus returns and, despite Odysseus' threats, returns the bow to Philoctetes. Neoptolemus then tries to persuade Philoctetes to go to Troy with him. But Philoctetes manages to be convinced only when the deified Hercules appears to him and says that the bow was given to him to accomplish a heroic feat.
Oedipus at Colonus.
Oedipus, expelled from Thebes by his sons and Creon, leaning on the hand of Antigone, comes to Colon. When he is told the name of this place, some unusual confidence is instilled in him: he believes that this is where he will die. Ismene comes to her father to warn him: the gods have declared that his grave will make the land in which he will lie invincible. Oedipus decides to provide this benefit to Athens by placing a curse on Creon and his own sons. Creon, having tried in vain to convince Oedipus, takes Antigone away by force, but King Theseus comes to the aid of Oedipus and returns his daughter to him. Polyneices comes to ask for his father's help against his brother, who has seized power in Thebes, but Oedipus renounces him and curses both sons. There is a clap of thunder and Oedipus runs off to his death. He mysteriously disappears, and only Theseus knows where Oedipus is buried.
This unusual play, which was written towards the end of the war that Athens lost, is filled with a poetic sense of patriotism towards Athens and is evidence of Sophocles' confidence in the immortality of his native city. The death of Oedipus is a religious mystery, hardly comprehensible to the modern mind: the closer Oedipus comes to divinity, the tougher, more embittered and more furious he becomes. So unlike King Lear, with which this tragedy was often compared, Oedipus at Colonus shows the path from the humble acceptance of fate in the prologue to the righteous, but almost superhuman rage and majestic self-confidence that the hero experiences in the last minutes of earthly life.
"The Theban Maiden"
It is such a bliss to touch an imperishable classic, especially after a bad experience with modern literature.
"Antigone" is a small tragedy created by the "golden boy" of his time. Yes, Sophocles, as they say, was a winner in life: rich parents, a clear literary talent for tragedies, a prestigious political position as a strategist, and even sporting achievements (he was an excellent wrestler). The girls probably hanged themselves that way.
Hey Sophocles, hello from the 2000s! Here we have Timati, Stas Mikhailov... tragedies are difficult, but there are rumors about the famous Russian comedies. Eh... I hope in a thousand years we won't have to hand over clay tablets from all this.
When the unknown citizen of the Universe had not yet reincarnated into Shakespeare, all the passions took place on the territory of Ancient Hellas. The Greeks loved beautiful stories, such that passions boiled, blood or wine flowed. In this regard, twice a year the descendants of the Achaeans held theatrical performances at a festival in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine. In the spring, in March, tragedies were usually staged. Comedy in December. But comedies had a strict 18+ qualification and no women. The Greek consumer watchdog did not sleep.
Now let's rotate the mood switch 180 degrees.
Antigone is one of Sophocles' seven surviving tragedies. In total, the author wrote about 120 of them.
Now the plot may seem simple and not catchy. We already have "Titanic", "Hurry to Love". "Diary of member". But if you go back to the 5th century BC - the apogee of the heyday of Ancient Greece - you can see the impression Antigone made on people. After reading, do a little literary archeology, and you will unearth the tragedy of love, sensitive social themes, decadence.
The ending is on par with Romeo and Juliet. Moreover, throughout the reading it will constantly seem that Shakespeare is standing behind him and writing down every word of the ancient tragedian for the future manuscript. There are a lot of intersections. But the Englishman will put love at the forefront, and the Greek will put the law at the forefront!
The main problem of "Antigone" is the question that worried contemporaries - the confrontation between earthly laws and divine ones. Despite the fact that there are several characters in the work, there are only three main ones: Antigone, Creon (king) and Teresius (prophet). The king's decree contradicts the will of the ancestors, and here Antigone manifests herself in the form of an unyielding maiden who, sacrificing herself, dares to disobey Creon, because this goes against the cult of the ancestors.
Sophocles himself can be discerned behind these dialogues: No king has the right to violate the will of the gods. Man is mortal and subjective - but the gods never make mistakes, and not a single tyrant can stand against them.
The Greek tragedian adhered to this principle. Because of this, Sophocles had to go against the ideas of his friend Protagoras, who owns the famous phrase: “MAN IS THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS.”
“No, Protagoras is my friend - but man is nothing against the will of ROCK,” says Sophocles.
Rock acts as a third party in this tragedy. He is higher than the gods and man, no one can hide from him and he makes things equal... But you can’t do without spoilers here, so -
(A book that is over 100 years old)
Years of life: 496 - 406 BC
State: Ancient Greece
Field of activity: Dramaturgy
Greatest Achievement: Creation of tragedies on the stage of Athenian theaters
Sophocles was an ancient Greek poet and playwright, one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His works belonged to the period after Aeschylus and before Euripides. Sophocles wrote 123 plays during his life, of which only seven survive in complete form. These plays are: Ajax, Antigone, The Women of Trachin, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus.
He was considered to remain the most celebrated playwright in the drama competitions of the city-state of Athens, held during the religious festivals of Lenaea and Dionysia. Sophocles took part in thirty competitions, of which he won 24 and never fell below second place in the rest. Among his plays, the two most famous tragedies are Oedipus and Antigone. Sophocles was a major influence on drama. His main contribution was the addition of a third actor, which reduced the importance of the chorus in presenting the plot.
Biography
Sophocles was born in Attica around 496 BC in the city of Colon (now a district of Athens). He received his first artistic achievement in 468 BC. e., when he won first prize in the theater competition “Dionysia” and defeated the master of Athenian drama Aeschylus. According to the Greek historian, this victory was quite unusual. In contrast to the custom of choosing judges by lot, the archon-ruler of Athens asked the strategists present to determine the winner of the competition. According to him, after the defeat, Aeschylus left for Sicily.
Triptolemus was one of the plays that Sophocles presented at this festival. When Sophocles was sixteen years old, he was chosen to lead a song dedicated to the Gods, celebrating the victory of the Greeks over the Persians in . He was one of the ten strategoi, the highest officials in command of the armed forces, and a junior colleague of Pericles.
Early in his career, Sophocles received patronage from the politician Cimon. Even when in 461 BC. e. Cimon was banished by Pericles. Sophocles continued to work on his plays. In 443 he became one of the Hellenothami, or Treasurers of Athens, and played an assistant role in managing the city's finances during the political reign of Pericles. In 413, Sophocles was chosen as one of the commissioners who responded most quickly to the catastrophic destruction of the Athenian expeditionary force in Sicily during the Peloponnesian War.
Sophocles also did not ignore the female gender. He was married twice, from his marriages he had sons (some sources claim that there were five of them). But it is not the poet’s personal life that deserves more attention, but his creations.
Works of Sophocles
Sophocles' works were influential and significant to Greek culture. Two of his seven plays have an exact date of composition: Philoctetes (409 BC) and Oedipus at Colonus (401 BC, staged after his death by the playwright’s grandson). Of his other plays, Electra bore a striking resemblance to these two plays, which brought to the fore the fact that it was written at a later time in his career.
Again, based on the stylistic characteristics of Oedipus Rex that came in its middle period, Ajax, Antigone and Trachinia belonged to its early days. Sophocles wrote these plays in separate festival competitions several years apart. They cannot be called a trilogy due to the inconsistencies between them. In addition, Sophocles is believed to have written several more Theban plays, such as "The Posterity", which survive in fragments. Most of his plays depicted the undercurrent of early fatalism and the displacement of Socratic logic, the cornerstone of the long tradition of Greek tragedy.
Antigone
Sophocles' most famous play is Antigone.
It was first staged in 442 BC. The work is one of the parts of the Theban cycle, along with “King Oedipus”. The plot is quite twisted and tragic - in the style of Sophocles. Oedipus's daughter, Antigone, loses both brothers - they went to war against each other.
Only one of them defended Thebes, the other betrayed. The king of Thebes, Creon, forbade the burial ceremony of the traitor, but Antigone, bypassing the order, buried her brother humanly.
Creon ordered the girl to be arrested and walled up in a cave.
Antigone committed suicide, but the matter did not end there - her fiancé, the son of Creon, not surviving the death of his beloved, also took his own life, followed by his mother.
Creon was left alone and admitted that he was wrong.
Oedipus the King
Another famous play is Oedipus the King. The plot is even more twisted than in Antigone. Oedipus's father, having learned about the prophecy that his son would be his killer, gave the order to kill the baby, but the soldier who was entrusted with this matter gave the child to be raised by the peasants. Having matured, Oedipus learns about the prophecy and leaves home. Near the city of Thebes, a chariot ran into him. A conflict broke out, as a result of which Oedipus killed the old man and his companions.
The old man turned out to be his real father. Oedipus becomes king of the city and marries his mother. However, 15 years later, as a result of a new prophecy of the Delphic oracle, the truth is revealed to Oedipus - his wife is actually his mother, and the old man he killed many years ago is his father. Unable to bear the heavy burden of shame, he gouges out his eyes so as not to see the bitter truth.
Sophocles is recognized as a true master of tragedy - his plays were a huge success in Athenian theaters. He even died in 406 while working on his works. Sophocles died at the age of ninety or ninety-one. One story says that he died from the strain of trying to deliver a long sentence from his play Antigone without stopping to catch his breath. While another story suggests that he suffocated while eating grapes at a festival in Athens. Whatever the truth, Sophocles remains one of the most popular masters of tragedy even today, whose plays we can see in theaters.
Sophocles) the most famous writers of the ancient era. Born around 496 BC. e. in Colon, a small village a few kilometers north of the Acropolis. He happened to be born into a wealthy family and received an excellent education. Sophocles was a multi-talented person, he studied music under the guidance of the famous musician Lampra, and demonstrated excellent results in athletic competitions. Sources indicate that young Sophocles was extremely handsome, perhaps for this reason he led the youth choir after the victory in the Battle of Salamis (480 BC), singing hymns of thanks to the gods.
In 468 BC. e. Sophocles made his debut at literary competitions of poets, and immediately became the winner, winning the prize from the outstanding Aeschylus. Fame came to Sophocles, which did not leave him until the end of his life. It is known that he regularly took part in competitions for Athenian playwrights, became a winner more than two dozen times, a “silver medalist” many times, and never once did his plays receive third and last place. It is believed that Sophocles wrote more than hundreds of plays, and writing tragedies was the main occupation of his life.
Nevertheless, he gained fame among his contemporaries not only as a playwright. An active participant in the public life of Athens, he held various positions. It is possible that in 1443-1442. BC e. was a member of the board of treasurers of the Athenian League. During the Samian War in 44 BC. e. Sophocles was elected one of the ten strategists who led the punitive expedition. Most likely, he served as a strategist two more times; was one of the people close to the Athenian strategist Pericles. During a difficult period for Athens (after an unsuccessful expedition to Sicily in 413 BC), Sophocles became one of the ten probulians who were entrusted with the fate of the polis. In the memoirs of his contemporaries, Sophocles remained a very pious man who founded the sanctuary of Hercules. At the same time, he was sociable and cheerful, although he became famous for composing tragic works.
A total of seven tragedies have survived to this day, which experts attribute to the late period of Sophocles’ biography; among them are the famous “Oedipus”, “Antigone”, “Electra”, “Dejanira”, etc. The ancient Greek playwright is credited with introducing a number of innovations in the production of tragedies. In particular, he increased the number of actors playing to three and improved the prop side of the performance. At the same time, the changes affected not only the technical side: the tragedies of Sophocles, in terms of content and message, acquired a more “human” face, even in comparison with the work of Aeschylus.
Died at an old age around 406 BC. e. Sophocles was deified after his death, and an altar was built in Athens as a sign of his memory.
Sophocles (c. 496 - 406 BC). Ancient Greek playwright.
One of the three great masters of ancient tragedy, occupying a place in terms of life and nature of creativity between Aeschylus and Euripides.
Sophocles' worldview and skill are marked by a desire for a balance between the new and the old: glorifying the power of a free person, he warned against violating “divine laws,” that is, traditional religious and civil norms of life; complicating the psychological characteristics, while maintaining the overall monumentality of the images and composition. Sophocles' tragedies "Oedipus the King", "Antigone", "Electra" and others are classic examples of the genre.
Sophocles was elected to important government positions and was close to Pericles' circle. According to ancient evidence, he wrote over 120 dramas. The tragedies “Ajax”, “Antigone”, “Oedipus the King”, “Philoctetes”, “The Trachinian Women”, “Electra”, “Oedipus at Colonus” have reached us in their entirety.
The philosopher's worldview reflects the complexity and inconsistency of Athenian democracy during its peak period. On the one hand, democratic ideology, which grew on the basis of “joint private property of active citizens of the state,” saw its stronghold in the omnipotence of divine providence, in the inviolability of traditional institutions; on the other hand, in the conditions of the freest development of personality for that time, the tendency towards its liberation from polis connections became more and more persistent.
The trials that befall a person could not find a satisfactory explanation in the divine will, and Sophocles, concerned about preserving the unity of the polis, did not try to justify the divine management of the world with any ethical considerations.
At the same time, he was attracted to an active person responsible for his decisions, which was reflected in Ajax.
In Oedipus the King, the hero's relentless investigation into the secrets of his past makes him responsible for unwitting crimes, although it does not provide a basis for interpreting the tragedy in terms of guilt and divine retribution.
Antigone appears as an integral person, unshakable in her decision, with her heroic defense of “unwritten” laws from the arbitrariness of an individual, hiding behind the authority of the state. Sophocles' heroes are free from everything secondary and too personal; they have a strong ideal beginning.
The plots and images of Sophocles were used both in subsequent ancient and modern European literature from the era of classicism until the 20th century. Deep interest in the playwright’s work was manifested in studies on the theory of tragedy (G.E. Lessing, I.V. Goethe, the Schlegel brothers, F. Schiller, V.G. Belinsky). From the middle of the 19th century. Sophocles' tragedies are staged in theaters all over the world.
