{\b Sophocles}.

{\b Date of Birth}.: c. 496 BC 

{\b Date of Death}.: 406 BC

{\b Works}.

Greek tragic playwright. 
Best known for Oedipus Rex (c.429), seven of his 123 dramas survive, the 
others being Antigone (c.442), Ajax (c.435), Electra (c.432), The Trachiniae 
(c.425), Philoctetes (409) and Oedipus at Colonus (401).

 Other classical Greek tragic playwrights include Aeschylus and Euripides. 

{\b Featured Works}.

Sophocles' Oedipus Trilogy.

{\b General Comment}.

Sophocles' father, Sophilus, was a wealthy armour manufacturer. His prosperity 
allowed Sophocles a good education, including music lessons under the tuition 
of Lamprus. 
In 443 Sophocles was elected Imperial Treasurer and was later to be twice 
appointed one of the ten Athenian generals. He accompanied Pericles on 
semi-military campaigns, was reputed to be a friend of the historian, 
Herodotus, and was also to convert his own house into a place of worship to 
Asclepius.

 His work met great acclaim both during and after his lifetime. Ninety-six of 
his 123 plays won first prizes at the annual Athenian dramatic festivals. 
Milton, Swinburne and Arnold are all indebted to him, and in the 20th century, 
Freud's identification of the so-called Oedipus complex has helped to keep his 
work in the public eye.