Sophocles

Sophocles (c. 497–406 BCE) was one of classical Athens' greatest dramatic poets, celebrated during the Golden Age of Pericles for winning more Dionysian dramatic contests than any other playwright. Born in Colonus Hippius, he was educated in music and dance, and served Athens not only as a poet but also as a general (strategos) alongside Pericles during the Samian War and as a state treasurer.

Sophocles revolutionized theatrical form by introducing a third speaking actor, diminishing the choral role, and pioneering painted scenery (skenographia). His psychological depth and mastery of irony reached their pinnacle in the Theban plays—Antigone, Oedipus Rex, and Oedipus at Colonus—which examine the tragic tension between autonomous moral duty, unavoidable fate, and the limits of human knowledge.