Sophocles

Sophocles (c. 490–406 BCE) was an Athenian tragedian born in Colonus to a wealthy family. One of ancient Greece's greatest playwrights alongside Aeschylus and Euripides, he won nearly twenty-four theatrical competitions at Dionysus festivals. Sophocles revolutionized Western drama by introducing a third actor, painted scenery, and complex, flawed characters. Beyond theatre, he was an active Athenian statesman who served as treasurer and general. Though he authored around 120 plays, only seven survive, including his famous Theban plays: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone. He actively wrote until his death at age ninety.