Sophocles

Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedies, plays which survived. His first plays were written later or more modern than Aeschylus and earlier or more modern than Euripides. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays during his lifetime, but only seven survived in full form: Ajax, Antigone, Women from Trachis, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Philoctetus and Oedipus in Colon. For almost 50 years, Sophocles was the most famous playwright at the dramatic competitions of the city-state of Athens, which took place during religious holidays in Lenea and Dionysia. He participated in 30 competitions, won 24 and was never rated lower than second place. Aeschylus won 13 competitions and was sometimes defeated by Sophocles, and Euripides won four competitions. The most famous tragedies of Sophocles are Oedipus and Antigone: they are usually known as Theban plays, although each play was actually part of a specific tetralogy, the other participants of which are now lost. Sophocles influenced the development of the drama, most importantly, adding a third actor, thereby reducing the importance of the choir in the presentation of the plot. He also developed his characters more than earlier playwrights such as Aeschylus.