Life and Career

Sophocles was born into a prosperous and educated family in Colonus, a deme just outside Athens. He received a thorough education in music, athletics, and letters, and his early brilliance was evident from youth. At the age of sixteen, he was chosen to lead the boys’ chorus celebrating the Athenian victory at Salamis—a sign of civic honour and artistic promise. His career as a dramatist began in 468 BCE when he won his first competition at the City Dionysia, defeating the veteran Aeschylus. From that moment, Sophocles’ reputation grew steadily; he is said to have written more than one hundred and twenty plays, of which only seven survive complete. His long life, extending to the year 406 BCE, coincided with the zenith and the decline of Athens’ imperial greatness. He served his city in various official capacities, including as a treasurer, general, and civic priest, demonstrating the profound connection between artistic creation and public duty in classical Athens.

Sophocles’ dramatic output reflects a mature and stable temperament. He was admired by his contemporaries not only for his genius but for his moderation of character. His style, often described as serene, embodies an equilibrium between emotion and intellect, form and content. The moral universe of his plays is neither austere nor nihilistic; rather, it expresses a deep confidence in the meaning of human striving even amid inevitable suffering. It is this equilibrium that marks Sophocles as the classical tragedian par excellence.