Sophocles

Sophocles was one of the three great tragedians of ancient Athens, alongside Aeschylus and Euripides, and remains one of the most enduring figures in the history of Western drama. Active in the 5th century BCE, he wrote over a hundred plays for the Athenian stage, of which only seven survive in complete form, winning numerous first-place victories at the City Dionysia festival during his lifetime.

His most celebrated works form the Theban plays: «Oedipus Rex» (Oedipus the King), «Oedipus at Colonus», and «Antigone», though they were not written or originally performed as a connected trilogy. These plays explore themes of fate, free will, hubris, and the tension between individual conscience and the laws of the state, exemplified by Antigone’s defiance of Creon’s edict to bury her brother. Sophocles is credited with innovations to Greek theater, including the addition of a third actor and expanded use of scenery, which allowed for more complex dramatic interaction.

His plays remain foundational texts in literature and philosophy courses worldwide, studied for their psychological depth and their unflinching examination of human suffering, moral responsibility and the limits of human knowledge against divine will.