Saturday 12 April 2014

Sophocles


Sophocles = Σοφοκλῆς [Sophoklēs]

Formally known facts about his life, documented in ancient times

1. His first victory came in 468 B.C.E. with Triptolemos and three other plays  .
2. He did not compete in the City Dionysia in 467 
3. He held the office of Hellenotamias (public treasurer) in 443/442 BC 
4. He held a generalship during the Samian War  . 
5. He won first prize in 438  .
6. He won second prize in 431 
7. His Oedipus Tyrannus was defeated by Philokles.
8. He served as proboulos on a committee of elders in 412/411, appointed to advise concerning the present circumstances  .
9. He won first prize with Philoctetes in 409.
10. He entered the Proagon of 406 in mourning for Euripides  .
11. He died in 406 BC.
l2. He produced plays for presentation at the festival of the City Dionysia and won eighteen victories
13. He married Nikostrate and had a son Iophon who became a tragedian and who had a son, Sophocles, Sophoclesʹ grandson, who became a tragedian.
14. He invented the third actor
15. He was devoted to Asclepius
16. His Oedipus at Colonus was produced in 401 posthumously by his grandson, Sophocles

Further facts from ancient sources on Sophocles the Athenian

1.Was son of Sophilos, from the deme of Colonus
2.Was a Tragedian
3.Born during the seventy-third Olympiad
4 And thus was seventeen years older than Socrates.
5 Sophocles was first to employ three actors and the so-called tritagonist, and he was first to bring forth a chorus of fifteen young men.
6 Before then, choruses consisted of twelve youths. He was called Bee because of his sweetness.
7 He himself began competing with a play against a play but not conducting the levy.
8 He wrote elegy and paeans and an account in prose of the chorus in rivalry with Thespis and Choirilos.
9 The sons whom he had were Iophon, Leosthenes, Ariston, Stephanos, and Menekleides.
10 He died aged ninety years,
11 Outlived Euripides.

12 He taught (produced) 123 plays and was victorious, taking the prize, twenty-four times.

Short Biography

Sophocles was born about 495 BC, dying in 406 BC. He was the son of a well-to-do Athenian, Sophillus, and belonged to the deme of Colonus. He was well educated and was outstanding in accomplishments. His life practically covered the whole of the fifth century BC.  The Athenian genius flourished in this period with a brilliance never before or since matched. Sophocles was later in and around 480 BC to lead a chorus of youths celebrating the victory at Salamis.

In his lifetime Sophocles wrote more than one hundred twenty plays, winning twenty-four victories at the City Dionysia, far more than any other Greek dramatist of his times. Indeed of those whom we know about, he was never placed lower than second.

The period was not one of placid serenity. Athens was engaged almost continuously in external wars and in disturbances attendant on an exploited empire. Political rivalry at home was keen. Exile, ostracism, and even political murders sometimes resulted. Sophocles was not concerned with practical politics; but he did take an active role in the religious life of his times. Here, too, turmoil reigned, with philosophical enlightenment

In all, Sophocles wrote more than one hundred twenty plays and won twenty-four victories -more than any other Greek dramatist of whom we know. He was never placed lower than second. The fifth century at Athens was not, as is sometimes assumed, a period of placid serenity. Athens was engaged almost continuously in external wars and in disturbances attendant on an exploited empire. Political rivalry at home was keen. Exile, ostracism, and even political murders sometimes resulted. Sophocles was not concerned with practical politics; but he did take an active role in the religious life of his times. Here, too, turmoil reigned, with philosophical enlightenment continually attacking the old beliefs. But Sophocles was serenely conservative. He held priesthoods in certain cults and received signal religious honours both during his lifetime and after his death. His religious conservatism is reflected in his plays by their acceptance of the infallibility of the Delphic oracle. They do not, however, show the religious profundity of the plays of Aeschylus.

The heroes of Sophocles' plays "are not guitless, for they are human; but their
 fate does not depend on their moral or immoral conduct. Their tragedy is that, in
 spite of their faults and misdeeds, they are 'innocent,' or perhaps better put, outside
 the standards of guilt or innocence. Their tragedy is the tragedy of man, of the very
 fact of being a human being. Man is a toy in the hands of superhuman forces. lt is
 the gods' rule over man that is called 'fate,' and man's reactions against it, which
 make human life great as well as tragic. Man is born into a world which is the work
 of the gods, in its good as well as its evil things. It is this world which man has to
 face, in which and with which he has to live, and in which he has to prove his worth.
 His fate is bound up with the divine order of the world, and tragedy occurs by the
 clash between that divine order and human disorder." Victor Ehrenberg, Sophocles
md Perides (Oxtford: Basil Blackwell, I954), p. 24.

References

Sophocles - Wikipedia

Ancient Writers Volume I p. 179- : Sophocles : Greece and Rome - Internet Archive

Sophocles: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide - Google Books

Sophocles | Biography, Plays, Legacy, & Facts | Britannica

Dictionary Of Greek And Roman Biography And Mythology Vol-iii p.865 - Sophocles

Gale Cengage (1997). Ancient Greek Authors. Gale Research. pp.350-8. ISBN 978-0-8103-9939-6.
Ancient Greek Authors, Sophocles - Archive.Org

Sophocles - GreekMythology.com

Sophocles - R. G. A. Buxton, New Surveys in the Classics 16 - Classical Association (Great Britain) - Google Books

Sophocles - P. J. Finglass New Surveys in the Classics 44 - Google Books

Greek & Roman Mythology Sophocles - Greek Tragedy

https://www.ancient.eu/sophocles/

Ancient Greek Theatre History - Sophocles Index

Sophocles (Collins) - Wikisource


Kirk Ormand (5 March 2012). A Companion to Sophocles. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-1-4443-5689-2.

Life of Sophocles - SUDA
http://bit.ly/2GBVqEl
SOL Search

Sophocles - Alchetron

Perseus Encyclopedia, - Sophocles

Jacques Jouanna (14 August 2018).
Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-17207-1.

P. E. Easterling; E. W. Handley (9 May 1985). The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Volume 1, Greek Literature. Chapter 10 Tragedy - 4. Sophocles: Cambridge University Press. pp. 295–. ISBN 978-0-521-21042-3.

Sophocles, the Playwright by S.M. Adams - Internet Archive


Sophocles, the dramatist by A.J.A. Waldock - Internet Archive

Sophocles : a collection of critical essays by T.M. Woodard - Internet Archive

Mary R. Lefkowitz (2 April 2012). The Lives of the Greek Poets. Chapter 8: Life of Sophocles: JHU Press. pp. 78–. ISBN 978-1-4214-0464-6.
207 Classical Greek Tragedy Sophocles, Classical Drama and Theatre


Sophoclean Tragedy : by C.M. Bowra - Internet Archive


Readings on Sophocles : Nardo, Don - Internet Archive

Sophocles and the Language of Tragedy - Google Books

The heroic temper; studies in Sophoclean tragedy by Bernard Knox - Internet Archive

Torrance, Robert M. “Sophocles: Some Bearings.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. 69, 1965, pp. 269–327. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/310785. https://www.jstor.org/stable/310785

Sophocles -- Ancient History Encyclopedia

Simon Hornblower; Antony Spawforth; Esther Eidinow (29 March 2012). The Oxford Classical Dictionary. (4th Edition) Sophocles(1): OUP Oxford. pp. 1381–4. ISBN 978-0-19-954556-8.

Simon Hornblower; Antony Spawforth; Esther Eidinow (2014). The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization. Sophocles: Oxford University Press. pp. 741–. ISBN 978-0-19-870677-9.Michael Vickers (5 December 2014). Sophocles and Alcibiades: Athenian Politics in Ancient Greek Literature. Routledge.  ISBN 978-1-317-49292-4.

John Hazel (2002). Who's who in the Greek World. Psychology Press. pp. 225–. ISBN 978-0-415-26032-9.

Kirk Ormand (2012). A Companion to Sophocles. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4443-5689-2. 

John Ferguson (15 March 2012). A Companion to Greek Tragedy. Sophocles: University of Texas Press. pp. 127–. ISBN 978-0-292-74086-0.

Simon Goldhill (5 March 2012). Sophocles and the Language of Tragedy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-997882-3

Ian C. Storey; Arlene Allan (2008). A Guide to Ancient Greek Drama. Play Synopses: Sophokles: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 251–. ISBN 978-1-4051-3763-8

Charles Segal (1999). Tragedy and Civilization: An Interpretation of Sophocles. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3136-8.

Jacques Jouanna (14 August 2018). Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-17207-1.

R. P. Winnington-Ingram; Sophocles; Evangelinus Apostolides Sophocles (28 February 1980). Sophocles: An Interpretation. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29684-7.

Brill's Companion to the Reception of Sophocles. BRILL. 3 April 2017. ISBN 978-90-04-30094-1.

Sophocles; a collection of critical essays - Internet Archive

Sophocles - Tom's Learning Notes


Gardiner, C.P. The Sophoclean Chorus (1987)

Gellie, G. Sophocles: A Reading (1972)

Knox, B. The Heroic Temper (1964)

Knox, B. Oedipus at Thebes (1957)

Scodel, R. Sophocles (1984)

Winnington-Ingram, R.P. Sophocles: An Interpretation (1980)

Was Sophocles Heroised as Dexion?
Andrew Connolly
The Journal of Hellenic Studies
Vol. 118 (1998), pp. 1-21
Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies
DOI: 10.2307/632228
https://www.jstor.org/stable/632228

Proboulos - Wikipedia

Hellenotamiae - Wikipedia

Sophocles among the Generals
Leonard Woodbury
Phoenix
Vol. 24, No. 3 (Autumn, 1970), pp. 209-224
Published by: Classical Association of Canada
DOI: 10.2307/1087241
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1087241

THE MANUSCRIPTS OF SOPHOCLES
Author(s): ALEXANDER TURYN
Source: Traditio, Vol. 2 (1944), pp. 1-41
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27830043

Laurentianus 31.10 and the Text of Sophocles
Author(s): P. J. Finglass
Source: The Classical Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 58, No. 2 (Dec., 2008), pp. 441-451
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27564175

UB Basel / Facsimile of the Laurentian Manuscript of Sophocles [Plut 32.9]
Facsimile of the Laurentian Manuscript of Sophocles
with an introduction by E.M. Thompson and R.C. Jebb
AUTHOR, CONTRIBUTOR
Sophocles [ca. 497/496 v. Chr.-406 v. Chr]
IMPRINT London : printed for the Society for the Promotion Hellenic Studies, 1885
Plays by Sophocles



Works by Sophocles (Perseus Collection)

Ajax 
   Written 440 B.C.E
   Translated by R. C. Trevelyan

Antigone 
   Written 442 B.C.E
   Translated by R. C. Jebb

Electra 
   Written 410 B.C.E
   Translated by R. C. Jebb

Oedipus at Colonus 
   Translated by F. Storr

Oedipus the King 
   Translated by F. Storr

Philoctetes 
   Written 409 B.C.E
   Translated by Thomas Francklin

The Trachiniae 
   Written 430 B.C.E
   Translated by R. C. Jebb


Perseus Search Results for Sophocles


Loeb Classical Library: Sophocles

Loeb Classical Library L020 Storr
Volume 1: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone

 Volume 2: Ajax, Electra, Trachiniae, Philoctetes 

Sir Richard C. Jebb's Translations of Sophocles - Plays and Fragments
Part I: The Oedipus Tyrranus

Part II: The Oedipus Coloneus

Part III: The Antigone

Part IV: The Philoctetes

Part V: The Trachiniae

Part VI: Electra

Part VII: The Ajax

The Fragments of Sophocles

David Grene and Richmond Lattimore (and others) Translations
Sophocles I : Oedipus the King / translated by David Grene -- Oedipus at Colonus / translated by Robert Fitzgerald -- Antigone / translated by Elizabeth Wyckoff

Sophocles II : Ajax ; The women of Trachis ; Electra ; Philoctetes : Sophocles

Richard Claverhouse Jebb; W. G. Headlam; A. C. Pearson (April 2010). The Fragments of Sophocles. Volume 1. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-00986-7.

Richard Claverhouse Jebb; W. G. Headlam; A. C. Pearson (April 2010). The Fragments of Sophocles. Volume 2. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-00987-4.

Richard Claverhouse Jebb; W. G. Headlam; A. C. Pearson (April 2010). The Fragments of Sophocles. Volume 3. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-00988-1.

Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments: With Critical Notes, Commentary and Translation in English Prose. Volume 4. Cambridge University Press. 11 February 2010. ISBN 978-1-108-00841-9.
Other Translations

Sophocles (2013). Delphi Complete Works of Sophocles (Illustrated). Delphi Classics. ISBN 978-1-909496-46-0.

Sophocles, (1984). The Three Theban Plays: Antigone; Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus. Penguin Group US. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-1-101-04269-4.

Sophocles (1996). The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone. Meridian. ISBN 978-0-452-01167-0.


Sophocles (1947). The Theban Plays. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-044003-4.

Sophocles. Sophocles I: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-31153-1.


Peter Burian; Alan Shapiro (2010). The Complete Sophocles: Volume I: The Theban Plays. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-983093-0.


Sophocles (2010). The Complete Sophocles: Volume II: Electra and Other Plays. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-538782-7.

Sophocles. Antigone; Oedipus the King; Electra. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-156110-8.

Sophocles; Peter Meineck; Paul Woodruff (2003). Theban Plays. Hackett Publishing. ISBN 0-87220-585-1.

Sophocles. Three Theban Plays. Wordsworth Editions. pp. 3–. ISBN 978-1-84022-144-2.

Sophocles. Oedipus Rex: Literary Touchstone Edition. Prestwick House Inc. ISBN 978-1-58049-593-6.
Sophocles. Antigone. Prestwick House Inc. ISBN 978-1-58049-388-8.



Mark Griffith; Glenn W. Most; David Grene; Richmond Lattimore (22 April 2013). Greek Tragedies 1: Aeschylus: Agamemnon, Prometheus Bound; Sophocles: Oedipus the King, Antigone; Euripides: Hippolytus. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-03531-4.

Mark Griffith; Glenn W. Most; David Grene; Richmond Lattimore (22 April 2013). Greek Tragedies 2: Aeschylus: The Libation Bearers; Sophocles: Electra; Euripides: Iphigenia among the Taurians, Electra, The Trojan Women. University of Chicago Press.ISBN 978-0-226-03562-8.

David Grene; Mark Griffith; Glenn W. Most; Richmond Lattimore (19 April 2013). Greek Tragedies 3: Aeschylus: The Eumenides; Sophocles: Philoctetes, Oedipus at Colonus; Euripides: The Bacchae, Alcestis. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-03576-5.


Wikisource

Fragments of lost dramas 

Interpretations

Jean Anouilh . Antigone. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-413-69540-6.

Jean Anouilh. Antigone: Texte et documents. Klett Sprachen. ISBN 978-3-12-597255-1.



References

Mark Ringer (1998). Electra and the Empty Urn: Metatheater and Role Playing in Sophocles. Univ of North Carolina Press.. ISBN 978-0-8078-4697-1.

Sophocles - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature