What is sophocles in ancient greece. Sophocles: playwright, poet and general

Sophocles short biography Athenian playwright, the tragedy is described in this article.

Sophocles short biography

Sophocles was born around 496 BC. e. in Kolon, a small village a few kilometers north of the Acropolis.

Sophocles came from a wealthy family and received a good education. He was distinguished by a cheerful, sociable character, did not shy away from the joys of life.

After the Battle of Salamis (480 BC), he participated in the folk festival as a leader of the choir. Twice he was elected to the post of strategist and once acted as a member of the collegium in charge of the union treasury. The Athenians chose Sophocles as a strategist in 440 BC. e.

In 468 BC. e. Sophocles made his debut at the literary competitions of poets, and immediately became the winner, having won the prize from the outstanding Aeschylus. Glory came to Sophocles, which did not leave him until the end of his life.

His main occupation was composing tragedies for the Athenian theater. Ancient literary critics attributed about 130 tragedies.

Seven tragedies have survived to our time, among them the famous Oedipus, Antigone, Electra, Dejanira, etc.

The ancient Greek playwright is credited with introducing a number of innovations in the staging of tragedies:

• he increased the number of actors to three,
• improved the sham side of the performance.
• At the same time, the changes affected not only the technical side: the tragedy of Sophocles in terms of content, the message acquired a more “human” face, even in comparison with the work of Aeschylus.
  

Sophocles died at the age of 90 (406 BC).

Sophocles) of the most famous writers of the ancient era. He was born around 496 BC. e. in Kolon, a small village a few kilometers north of the Acropolis. He happened to be born into a wealthy family, he received an excellent education. Sophocles was a multi-talented person, studied music under the guidance of the famous musician Lampra, and demonstrated excellent results in athletic competitions. Sources testify that the young Sophocles was extremely handsome, perhaps for this reason he led the youth choir after the victory in the Battle of Salamis (480 BC), performing hymns of thanksgiving to the gods.

In 468 BC. e. Sophocles made his debut at the literary competitions of poets, and immediately became the winner, having won the prize from the outstanding Aeschylus. Glory came to Sophocles, which did not leave him until the end of his life. It is known that he regularly took part in the competitions of Athenian playwrights, more than two dozen times became the winner, repeatedly - the "silver medalist", and not once his plays were awarded the third, last, place. It is believed that Sophocles wrote over a hundred plays, and writing tragedies was the main occupation of his life.

Nevertheless, he gained fame among his contemporaries not only as a playwright. Being an active participant in the public life of Athens, he held various positions. It is possible that in 1443-1442. BC e. was a member of the board of treasurers of the Athenian Union. During the Samian War in 44 BC. e. Sophocles was chosen among the ten strategists who led the punitive expedition. Most likely, as a strategist, he visited two more times; was one of the people close to the Athenian strategist Pericles. In a difficult period for Athens (after an unsuccessful expedition to Sicily in 413 BC), Sophocles entered the top ten proubles, who were entrusted with the fate of the policy. In the memoirs of his contemporaries, Sophocles remained a very pious man who founded the sanctuary of Hercules. At the same time, he was sociable, cheerful, although he became famous for composing tragic works.

Seven tragedies have survived to our time, which experts attribute to the late period of Sophocles' biography; among them are the famous "Oedipus", "Antigone", "Electra", "Dejanira", etc. The ancient Greek playwright is credited with introducing a number of innovations in the staging of tragedies. In particular, he increased the number of actors to three, improved the sham side of the performance. At the same time, the changes affected not only the technical side: the tragedy of Sophocles in terms of content, the message acquired a more “human” face, even in comparison with the work of Aeschylus.

Died at an advanced age around 406 BC. e. Sophocles was deified after his death, and an altar was erected in Athens as a sign of his memory.

Sophocles (May 496 BC, Colon - 406 BC) - the second great tragedian of Greece after Aeschylus. The first tetralogy, staged by Sophocles in 469 BC, captivated the audience and delivered him a victory over the sixty-two-year-old Aeschylus, opening a series of victories won on stage in competitions with other tragedians. The critic Aristophanes of Byzantium attributed 123 tragedies to Sophocles. His works won first place 20 times.

Sophocles was born in Kolon near Athens. Back in 480 BC, when he was only 16 years old, he participated in the choir of ephebes, who performed in honor of the victory at Salamis. Thanks to his father, who, most likely, was a man of average means, Sophocles received a compulsory musical and gymnasium education. This helped the poet in the future, since he himself subsequently composed music for the metrical parts of his tragedies.

Sophocles was handsome, a trendsetter, a poet and even a doctor. It is important to note that Sophocles was not only a playwright. In his youth, he was close to the aristocrat Cimon, the leader of the agricultural party, who won a number of victories over the Persians. When Pericles replaced Cimon, Sophocles took the position of treasurer of the state fund, and then strategist. Together with Pericles, he took part in the campaign against Samos. In 411 BC Sophocles participated in the revision of the Athenian constitution after the anti-democratic coup. It is well known that Sophocles was a friend of Pericles. It is believed that the poet reflected his fall in his most famous tragedy, Oedipus Rex, staged in 429 BC.

The historian Herodotus, the philosopher Archelaus, with whom Sophocles was close, also belonged to the circle of Pericles. It is also assumed that he communicated with the sophists, whose teaching he then criticized in some of his tragedies.

Sophocles lived 90 years. In the year of his death, he wrote the tragedy "Oedipus in Colon".

The merits of Sophocles in the field of theater were very great. He introduced decorative painting, wrote a treatise on the choir, in which he talks about its significance in drama, increased the number of choirs from 12 to 15, added a third to two actors, and increased the dialogic part. The action of the drama began to focus strictly around the first person. The composition of the tragedies has become much more complicated than that of, and the denouement is well prepared.

In the tragedies, Sophocles poses problems that are urgent for his time: attitude to religion ("Electra"), divine, unwritten laws and written laws ("Antigone"), the free will of man and the will of the gods ("Oedipus the King", "Trachinyanki"), the interests of the individual and the state ("Philoctetes"), the problem of honor and nobility ("Ajax"). In his works, the spiritual world of the ideal person-citizen is revealed. It depicts people doing great things. Sophocles takes plots for his tragedies from myths, but chooses those nodes of myth that are more in line with his tasks, and explains what is happening in accordance with the moral images of his time.

According to the ancients, Sophocles wrote over 120 tragedies, but only seven of them have come down to us: Ajax, The Trachinian Women, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra, Philoctetes, Oedipus in Colon and large excerpts from the satyr drama "Pathfinders", the plot for which was the motives of the Homeric hymn to Hermes.

Sophocles created the greatest tragic image - a man alien to compromises, who himself takes the blow and chooses a heroic death. Sophocles faced a dilemma: faith in the infinite possibilities of man and the tragedy of man, who is in ignorance. There are many unknowns in the world. According to Sophocles, the meaning of life is not revealed, the smarter a person is, the more difficult it is for him to curb himself in measure. A person does not know the boundaries assigned to him in the world.

The biography of the three great tragedians was united by the Battle of Salamis: he participated in it, Sophocles glorified it, and Euripides was born at that time.

Bibliography

Screen adaptations of works, theatrical performances

Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Rex; Italy, 1909), dir. D. Di Ligoro
Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Rex; UK, 1911), dir. T. Frenkel
Antigone (Antigone; Sweden, 1960), dir. H. Dalin
Antigone (Antigoni; Antigone; Greece, 1966), dir. D. Katsourides, G. Zavellas
Oedipus Rex (Edipo re; Italy, 1967), dir. P. Paolo Pasolini
Oedipus the King (UK, 1967), dir. F. Saville
Antigone (USA, 1974), dir. D. Friedman
Antigone (Antigone; France, 1974), dir. S. Lorenzi
Antigone (Great Britain, 1984), dir. D. Taylor
Oedipus the King (Oedipus the King; UK, 1984), dir. D. Taylor
Oedipus at Colonus (UK, 1984), dir. D. Taylor
Antigone (Antigone; Germany - France, 1992), dir. D. Huye, J.-M. Straub
Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Rex; Japan, 1992), dir. D. Taymor
Oedipus Rex (Edipo alcalde; Oedipus Mayor; Colombia - Spain - Mexico, 1996), dir. H.Ali Triana

One of the three greatest tragic poets of classical antiquity. Sophocles was born in the village of Kolon (the setting of his last drama), about 2.5 kilometers north of the Acropolis. His father, Sophill, was a wealthy man. Sophocles studied music with Lampr, an outstanding representative of the high school, and in addition, he took prizes in athletic competitions. In his youth, Sophocles was distinguished by his extraordinary beauty, which is probably why he was assigned to lead the choir of young men who sang thanksgiving hymns to the gods after the victory over the Persians at Salamis (480 BC). Twelve years later (468 BC) Sophocles took part in the theatrical festivities for the first time and won the first prize, surpassing his great predecessor Aeschylus. The competition between the two poets aroused the liveliest interest in the public. From that moment until his death, Sophocles remained the most popular of the Athenian playwrights: more than 20 times he was the first in the competition, many times the second and never took the third place (there were always three participants). He was not equal in terms of the volume of writing: it is reported that Sophocles owned 123 dramas. Sophocles enjoyed success not only as a playwright, he was generally a popular personality in Athens. Sophocles, like all Athenians in the 5th century, actively participated in public life. He may have been a member of the important board of treasurers of the Athenian League in 443-442 BC, and it is certain that Sophocles was chosen as one of the ten generals who commanded the punitive expedition against Samos in 440 BC. Perhaps twice more Sophocles was elected strategist. Already at a very advanced age, when Athens was going through an era of defeat and despair, Sophocles was chosen as one of the ten "proboules" (Greek "advisor"), who were entrusted with the fate of Athens after the disaster that befell the expedition to Sicily (413 BC). ). Thus, the successes of Sophocles in the state field are not inferior to his poetic achievements, which is quite typical both for Athens in the 5th century and for Sophocles himself.

Sophocles was famous not only for his devotion to Athens, but also for his piety. It is reported that he founded the sanctuary of Hercules and was the priest of one of the minor healing deities, Halon or Alkon, associated with the cult of Asclepius, and that he hosted the god Asclepius in his own house until his temple in Athens was completed. (The cult of Asclepius is established in Athens in 420 BC; the deity hosted by Sophocles was almost certainly the sacred serpent.) After his death, Sophocles was deified under the name "hero Dexion" (this name is derived from the root "dex- ”, in Greek “to receive”, perhaps recalls how he “received” Asclepius).

There is a widely known anecdote about how Sophocles was summoned to court by his son Iophon, who wanted to prove that the aged father was no longer able to manage the family's property. And then Sophocles convinced the judges of his mental usefulness, reciting an ode in honor of Athens from Oedipus in Colon. This story is certainly fictitious, since the reports of contemporaries confirm that the last years of Sophocles passed as serenely as the beginning of his life, and he maintained the best relations with Jophon to the end. The last thing we know about Sophocles is his act upon receiving the news of the death of Euripides (in the spring of 406 BC). Then Sophocles dressed the members of the choir in mourning and led them to the “proagon” (a kind of dress rehearsal before the competition of tragedians) without celebratory wreaths. In January 405 BC, when the comedy of Aristophanes was staged frogs Sophocles was no longer alive.

Contemporaries saw in his life a continuous series of successes. "Blessed Sophocles," exclaims the comedian Phrynichus in Muses(delivered in January 405 BC). “He died having lived a long life, he was happy, smart, composed many beautiful tragedies and died safely, without experiencing any troubles.”

The seven tragedies that have come down to us, by all accounts, belong to the late period of Sophocles' work. (In addition, in 1912 a papyrus was published that preserved more than 300 complete lines from the amusing satyr drama Pathfinders.) On the basis of ancient sources, the dates of staging tragedies are reliably established Philoctetes(409 BC), Oedipus in Colon(posthumous production 401 BC) and Antigone(a year or two before 440 BC). Tragedy Tsar Oedipus usually attributed to 429 BC, since the mention of the sea may be associated with a similar disaster in Athens. Tragedy ajax stylistically, it should be attributed to an earlier period than Antigone, regarding the two remaining plays, philologists have not come to a consensus, although most suggest a fairly early date for the tragedy trachinian women(until 431 BC) and later - for electra(c. 431 BC). So the seven surviving plays can be arranged roughly in this order: ajax,Antigone,trachinian women,Oedipus Rex, Electra,Philoctetes,Oedipus in Colon. It is known that Sophocles received the first prize for Philoctetes and the second for Oedipus Rex. Probably the first place was awarded Antigone, since it is known that it was thanks to this tragedy that Sophocles was elected strategist in 440 BC. There is no information about other tragedies, it is only known that they were all awarded either first or second place.

Technique.

Sophocles' most striking innovation in the genre of Attic tragedy was the reduction in the scope of drama by abandoning the trilogy form. As far as we know, the three tragedies that Sophocles presented at the annual competition were always three independent works, without any plot connections between them (therefore, talking about tragedies Antigone, Oedipus rex and Oedipus in Colon as about the "Theban Trilogy" is to make a gross mistake). The Tragedies of Aeschylus (with the exception of the trilogy, which included Persians) were invariably combined into a trilogy in the literal sense of the word - into a dramatic work in three parts, connected by a common plot, common characters and motives. The drama of Sophocles takes us from the cosmic perspective of action (the will of the deity is carried out in the actions and sufferings of people from generation to generation) to a condensed presentation of this moment of crisis and revelation. It is enough to compare Oresteia Aeschylus, where the central event, matricide, is preceded by an image of its causes ( Agamemnon) and then showing its consequences ( Eumenides), with a mysterious Elektra Sophocles, a tragedy in which the dramatic transmission of the main event turns out to be self-sufficient. The new technique made less significant the divine will, which in Aeschylus interferes with the action, overcoming the human motives of the heroes, and emphasized the importance of the human will. The consequences of this shift in emphasis were twofold. On the one hand, Sophocles was able to concentrate completely on the character of his heroes, bringing to the stage a whole series of surprisingly idiosyncratic characters (thus, in electra we are dealing with a spectacular move when the character of the character is subjected to a full-scale and subtle analysis, which almost does not take part in the action). On the other hand, due to the unprecedented cost savings for the development of the plot of Sophocles in his best examples (for example, Oedipus rex) is unparalleled in the entire history of Western literature.

It was to be expected that the rejection of the trilogy would entail a reduction in the role of the choir, which in the dramas of Aeschylus invariably correlates the actions and sufferings of the individual with the whole picture of divine providence, connecting the present with the past and the future. Indeed, the lyrical part of the choir in Sophocles is much less than that of Aeschylus. AT Philoctetes(to take an extreme case) the choir is fully involved in the action as a full-fledged character, and practically everything that is said to them revolves around a specific situation in the drama. Nevertheless, in most tragedies, Sophocles still uses the chorus skillfully and carefully to give greater scope to the moral and theological dilemma that arises in connection with the action.

But Sophocles was most famous for another technical innovation: the appearance of a third actor. This happened earlier than 458 BC, since in this year Aeschylus already uses in orestee a third actor, albeit in his own, Aeschylus, way. The goal pursued by Sophocles, introducing a third actor, becomes obvious when reading the brilliant scenes with three participants, which are almost the pinnacle of Sophocles' drama. Such, for example, is the conversation between Oedipus, the Messenger from Corinth and the shepherd ( Oedipus rex), as well as an earlier scene in the same tragedy - while Oedipus questions the Messenger, Jocasta already sees the terrible truth. The same applies to Lich's cross-examination in Trachinyanki, which is arranged by the Herald and Dejanira. Aristotle's indication that Sophocles also introduced "scenography", i.e. Literally translated from Greek as “painting the scene”, it still gives rise to disputes between specialists, which can hardly be resolved due to the extreme scarcity of information about the technical side of theatrical performances in the 5th century.

Worldview.

The fact that the playwright's attention is focused on the actions of people, and the divine will is relegated to the background, incl. it, as a rule, appears in the play as a prophecy, and not the root cause or direct intervention in the action, suggests that the author adhered to a "humanistic" point of view (although there has recently been an elegant attempt to characterize Sophocles' worldview as "heroic heroism"). However, Sophocles makes a different impression on most readers. The few details of his life known to us indicate a deep religiosity, and the tragedies confirm this. In many of them, we see a person who, during the crisis he is experiencing, encounters the mystery of the universe, and this mystery, shaming all human tricks and insight, inevitably brings defeat, suffering and death to him. The typical hero of Sophocles relies entirely on his knowledge at the beginning of the tragedy, and ends with the admission of complete ignorance or doubt. Human ignorance is a constant theme of Sophocles. It finds its classic and most terrifying expression in Oedipus Rex, but is also present in other plays, even Antigone's heroic enthusiasm is poisoned by doubt in her final monologue. Human ignorance and suffering is opposed by the mystery of the deity possessing the fullness of knowledge (his prophecies invariably come true). This deity is a certain image of perfect order and, perhaps, even justice, incomprehensible to the human mind. The underlying motive of the tragedies of Sophocles is humility before the incomprehensible forces that direct the fate of man in all their secrecy, grandeur and mystery.

In such a world order, the human will to act would have to weaken, if not completely disappear, but the heroes of Sophocles are distinguished precisely by their stubborn focus on action or knowledge, they are characterized by a fierce assertion of their independence. Oedipus Rex persistently and adamantly searches for the truth about himself, despite the fact that he will have to pay for the truth with his reputation, power and, finally, his eyesight. Ajax, finally realizing the precariousness of human existence, renounces it and fearlessly throws himself at the sword. Philoctetes, despising the persuasion of friends, the implicit command of the oracle and the promise of healing from a painful illness, stubbornly rejects his heroic appointment; to convince him, the appearance of the deified Hercules is required. Similarly, Antigone despises public opinion and the threat of the death penalty from the state. No playwright was able to glorify the power of the human spirit in such a way. The precarious balance between the omniscient providence of the gods and the heroic onslaught of the human will becomes a source of dramatic tension, thanks to which the plays of Sophocles are still full of life, not only when reading, but also on the theater stage.

TRAGEDIES

Ajax.

The action of the tragedy begins from the moment when Ajax, who was bypassed by the award (the armor of the deceased Achilles intended for the bravest hero, was awarded to Odysseus), decided to do away with both Atrid kings and Odysseus, but in the madness sent by the goddess Athena, he exterminated the cattle captured from the Trojans. In the prologue, Athena demonstrates Ajax's madness to his enemy, Odysseus. Odysseus regrets Ajax, but the goddess does not know compassion. In the next scene, the mind returns to Ajax and with the help of the captive concubine Tekmessa, the hero becomes aware of what he has done. Realizing the truth, Ajax decides to commit suicide, despite Tekmessa's touching persuasions. A famous scene follows, in which Ajax is presented thinking about what he has conceived with himself, his speech is full of ambiguities, and at the end of her chorus, believing that Ajax has abandoned the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bsuicide, sings a joyful song. However, in the very next scene (which has no parallel in the Attic tragedy), Ajax is stabbed to death in front of the audience. His brother Teucer appears too late to save the life of Ajax, but he manages to defend the body of the deceased from the Atrids, who wanted to leave their enemy without burial. Two scenes of a furious argument lead opponents to a dead end, but with the appearance of Odysseus, the situation is resolved: he manages to convince Agamemnon to allow an honorable burial.

Antigone.

Antigone decides to bury her brother Polynices, who died while trying to conquer his native city. She goes to this contrary to the order of Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, according to which the body of Polynices should be thrown to birds and dogs. The guard seizes the girl and brings her to Creon; Antigone despises the ruler's threats, and he sentences her to death. Creon's son Haemon (Antigone's fiancé) tries in vain to soften his father. Antigone is taken away and imprisoned in an underground dungeon (Creon commuted his initial sentence - stoning), and in her wonderful monologue, which, however, some publishers do not recognize as truly Sophocles, Antigone tries to analyze the motives of her act, reducing them in the end to purely personal affection to her brother and forgetting about the religious and family duty to which she referred initially. The prophet Tiresias orders Creon to bury Polynices, Creon tries to object, but in the end he gives up and goes to bury the deceased, and also to release Antigone, but the messenger sent reports that when he arrived in the dungeon, Antigone had already hanged herself. Haemon draws his sword, threatening his father, but then turns the weapon against himself. Upon learning of this, Creon's wife Eurydice leaves the house in grief and also commits suicide. The tragedy ends with the incoherent lamentations of Creon, who brought the body of his son onto the stage.

King Oedipus.

The people of Thebes come to Oedipus with a plea to save the city from the plague. Creon announces that it is first necessary to punish the murderer of Laius, who was king before Oedipus. Oedipus begins searching for the perpetrator. Tiresias, summoned on the advice of Creon, accuses Oedipus of the murder. Oedipus sees in all this a conspiracy inspired by Creon, and sentences him to death, but cancels his decision, succumbing to the persuasion of Jocasta. The subsequent complex plot is difficult to retell. Oedipus brings the search for the killer and the truth hidden from him to the sad conclusion that the killer of Laius is himself, that Laius was his father, and his wife Jocasta is his mother. In a terrifying scene, Jocasta, having figured out the truth before Oedipus, tries to stop his persistent search, and when she fails, she retires to the royal palace to hang herself there. In the next scene, Oedipus also realizes the truth, he also runs into the palace, after which the Messenger comes out to report: the king has deprived himself of his sight. Soon, Oedipus himself appears before the audience with a face covered in blood. The most heartbreaking scene in the entire tragedy follows. In his final dialogue with Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, Oedipus gets over himself and somewhat regains his former self-confidence.

Elektra.

Orestes returns to his native Argos along with the Mentor, who accompanied him in exile. The young man intends to enter the palace under the guise of a stranger who brought an urn with the ashes of Orestes, who allegedly died in a chariot race. From that moment on, Elektra becomes the dominant person on the stage, who, since the murderers dealt with her father, has been living in poverty and humiliation, harboring hatred in her soul. In dialogues with her sister Chrysothemis and mother Clytemnestra, Electra reveals the full measure of her hatred and determination to take revenge. The Mentor appears with a message about the death of Orestes. Electra loses her last hope, but still tries to persuade Chrysothemis to join her and attack Clytemnestra and Aegisthus together, when her sister refuses, Electra swears that she will do everything herself. Here Orestes enters the stage with a funeral urn. Elektra delivers a touching farewell speech over her, and Orestes, who recognizes her sister in this embittered, aged woman dressed in tatters, loses his temper, forgets his original plan and reveals the truth to her. The joyful embrace of brother and sister is interrupted by the arrival of the Mentor, who brings Orestes back to reality: it's time for him to go kill his mother. Orestes obeys, leaving the palace, he answers all the questions of Electra with dark, ambiguous speeches. The tragedy ends with an extremely dramatic scene when Aegisthus, bending over the body of Clytemnestra and believing that this is the corpse of Orestes, opens the face of the murdered woman and recognizes her. Urged on by Orestes, he goes into the house to meet his death.

Philoctetes.

On the way to Troy, the Greeks left Philoctetes, suffering from the consequences of a snake bite, on the island of Lemnos. In the last year of the siege, the Greeks learn that Troy will submit only to Philoctetes, who wields the bow of Hercules. Odysseus and Neoptolemus, the young son of Achilles, go to Lemnos to deliver Philoctetes to Troy. Of the three ways to possess a hero - force, persuasion, deceit - they choose the latter. Intrigue turns out to be perhaps the most intricate thing in Greek tragedy, and therefore it is not easy to summarize it. However, we see how, through all the intricacies of the plot, Neoptolemus gradually abandons the lies in which he has become entangled, so that the character of his father speaks in him with ever greater force. In the end, Neoptolemus reveals the truth to Philoctetes, but then Odysseus intervenes, and Philoctetes is left alone, taking away his bow. However, Neoptolemus returns and, defying Odysseus's threats, returns the bow to Philoctetes. Then Neoptolemus tries to persuade Philoctetes to go under Troy with him. But Philoctetes can only be convinced when the deified Hercules appears to him and says that the bow was given to him to accomplish a heroic feat.

Oedipus in Colon.

Oedipus, expelled from Thebes by his sons and Creon, leaning on the hand of Antigone, comes to Colon. When he is told the name of this place, some unusual confidence is instilled in him: he believes that it is here that he will die. Ismena comes to his father to warn him: the gods have announced that his grave will make invincible the land in which he will lie. Oedipus decides to provide this benefit to Athens by placing a curse on Creon and his own sons. Creon, vainly trying to convince Oedipus, takes Antigone by force, but King Theseus comes to the aid of Oedipus and returns his daughter to him. Polyneices is to ask for help from his father against his brother, who seized power in Thebes, but Oedipus renounces him and curses both sons. There is a thunderclap, and Oedipus retires to meet his death. He mysteriously disappears, and only Theseus knows where Oedipus is buried.

This unusual play, which was written at the end of the war lost by Athens, is filled with a poetic sense of patriotism towards Athens and is a testament to Sophocles' confidence in the immortality of his native city. The death of Oedipus is a religious mystery, hardly comprehensible to the modern mind: the closer Oedipus comes to divinity, the tougher, embittered and furious he becomes. So unlike King Lear with which this tragedy has often been compared, Oedipus in Colon shows the way from the humble acceptance of fate in the prologue to the righteous, but almost superhuman rage and majestic self-confidence that the hero experiences in the last moments of earthly life.

Sophocles (Σοφοκλής, 496/5 - 406 BC) - Athenian playwright, tragedian.

Born 495 BC e. [source not specified 1557 days], in the Athenian suburb of Colon. The place of his birth, long since glorified by the shrines and altars of Poseidon, Athena, Eumenides, Demeter, Prometheus, the poet sang in the tragedy "Oedipus in Colon". He came from a wealthy Sofill family, received a good education.

After the Battle of Salamis (480 BC), he participated in a folk festival as a leader of the choir. Twice he was elected to the post of military commander and once served as a member of the collegium in charge of the allied treasury. The Athenians chose Sophocles as commander in 440 BC. e. during the Samian War, under the impression of his tragedy "Antigone", the setting of which on the stage, therefore, dates back to 441 BC. e.

His main occupation was composing tragedies for the Athenian theater. The first tetralogy, staged by Sophocles in 469 BC. e., brought him victory over Aeschylus and opened a series of victories won on stage in competitions with other tragedians. The critic Aristophanes of Byzantium attributed 123 tragedies to Sophocles.

Sophocles was distinguished by a cheerful, sociable character, did not shy away from the joys of life, as can be seen from the words of a certain Cephalus in Plato's "State" (I, 3). He was closely acquainted with the historian Herodotus. Sophocles died at the age of 90, in 405 BC. e. in the city of Athens. The townspeople built an altar to him and annually honored him as a hero.

The son of Sophocles - Iophon himself became an Athenian tragedian.

In accordance with the successes that tragedy owed to Sophocles, he made innovations in the stage production of plays. So, he increased the number of actors to three, and the number of choirs from 12 to 15, while at the same time reducing the choral parts of the tragedy, improved the scenery, masks, the sham side of the theater in general, made a change in the staging of tragedies in the form of tetralogy, although it is not known exactly what this change was. Finally, he also introduced painted decorations. All the changes were intended to give more movement to the course of the drama on the stage, to strengthen the illusion of the audience and the impression received from the tragedy. Preserving for the performance the character of honoring the deity, the priesthood, which was the tragedy originally, by its very origin from the cult of Dionysus, Sophocles humanized him much more than Aeschylus. The humanization of the legendary and mythical world of gods and heroes inevitably followed, as soon as the poet focused his attention on a deeper analysis of the spiritual states of the heroes, who were known to the public until now only from the external vicissitudes of their earthly life. It was possible to depict the spiritual world of the demigods only with the features of mere mortals. The beginning of such treatment of legendary material was laid by the father of tragedy, Aeschylus: it is enough to recall the images of Prometheus or Orestes created by him; Sophocles followed in the footsteps of his predecessor.

There is, however, an essential difference between the religiosity of Aeschylus and the faith of Sophocles. The first saw in the fate of his heroes the action of the inevitable law of just retribution, and in the divine will - the highest moral criterion. Sophocles, on the contrary, did not try to explain or justify the will of the deity by any ethical considerations; it is invariably present in the world of its heroes, is more or less clearly distinguished behind every event and ultimately triumphs, manifesting itself in the fate of people, but the meaning of the divine control of the world is hidden from mortals. to be a link in the chain of events played out in the genus for several generations, determined the dramatic principles of Sophocles.

He extremely rarely combined three tragedies into a trilogy connected by the unity of the idea and plot and introduced a third actor. This innovation, still poorly used in early tragedies, subsequently made it possible not only to increase the dramatic tension in the development of the action, but also to enrich the image of the inner world of the characters involved in it. Although Sophocles also increased the composition of the choir, bringing it to 15 participants, the volume and role of the choral parts in his tragedies were significantly reduced compared to Aeschylus: they most often contain a reaction to events taking place in the orchestra, combined with brief reflections on ethical topics. At the same time, the moral norms proclaimed by the choir do not always coincide with Sophocles' own opinion about his heroes, and even more so with their decisive and courageous behavior.

Seven tragedies of Sophocles have come down to us, of which, according to their content, three belong to the Theban cycle of legends: "Oedipus", "Oedipus in Colon" and "Antigone"; one to the Heracles cycle - "Dejanira", and three to the Trojan: "Eant", the earliest of the tragedies of Sophocles, "Electra" and "Philoctetes". In addition, about 1000 fragments have been preserved by various writers. In addition to tragedies, antiquity attributed to Sophocles elegies, paeans, and a prosaic discussion of the choir.

The Trachinian Women were based on the legend of Dejanira. The languor of a loving woman in anticipation of her husband, the torments of jealousy and the hopeless grief of Dejanira at the news of the suffering of the poisoned Hercules constitute the main content of the Trachinians.

In Philoctetes, staged in 409 BC. e., the poet with amazing art develops the tragic situation created by the collision of three different characters: Philoctetes, Odysseus and Neoptolemus.

The action of the tragedy dates back to the tenth year of the Trojan War, and the scene is the island of Lemnos, where the Greeks, on the way to Troy, left the Thessalian leader Philoctetes after he was bitten by a poisonous snake on Chrys, and the wound received from the bite, spreading the stench, made him incapable of participating in military affairs. He left on the advice of Odysseus. Lonely, forgotten by everyone, unbearably suffering from a wound, Philoctetes earns his miserable livelihood by hunting: he skillfully owns the bow and arrows of Hercules that he got. However, according to the oracle, Troy can be taken by the Greeks only with the help of this wonderful bow. Then only the Greeks remember the unfortunate sufferer, and Odysseus takes it upon himself to deliver Philoctetes near Troy at all costs, or at least take possession of his weapons. But he knows that Philoctetes hates him as his worst enemy, that he himself will never be able to persuade Philoctetes to reconcile with the Greeks or take possession of him by force, that he will need to act by cunning and deceit, and he chooses the young man Neoptolemus, who did not participate, as an instrument of his plan. offended, besides the son of Achilles, the favorite of Philoctetes. The Greek ship had already landed at Lemnos, and the Greeks landed on the shore. Before the viewer opens a cave, a wretched dwelling of a glorious hero, then the hero himself, exhausted by illness, loneliness and deprivation: his bed is tree leaves on bare ground, right there a wooden jug for drinking, flint and rags stained with blood and pus. The noble youth and the accompanying choir of Achilles' companions are deeply touched by the sight of the unfortunate man. But Neoptolemus bound himself with the word given to Odysseus, to take possession of Philoctetes with the help of lies and deceit, and he will fulfill his promise. But if the miserable appearance of the sufferer causes participation in the young man, then the complete trust, love and affection with which the old man Philoctetes treats him from the first moment and gives himself into his hands, expecting the end of his torment from him alone, plunge Neoptolemus into a difficult struggle with himself. yourself. But at the same time, Philoctetes is adamant: he cannot forgive the Greeks for the offense inflicted on him; he will never go under Troy, he will not help the Greeks to end the war victoriously; he will return home, and Neoptolem will take him to his dear native land. Only the thought of his homeland gave him the strength to bear the burden of life. The nature of Neoptolemus is indignant against deceitful insidious actions, and only the personal intervention of Odysseus makes him the owner of the weapon of Philoctetes: the young man uses the trust of the old man in order to destroy him. Finally, all considerations about the need for the glory of the Greeks to get the weapons of Hercules, that he bound himself with a promise before Odysseus, that not Philoctetes, but he, Neoptoles, will from now on be the enemy of the Greeks, are inferior in the young man to the voice of his conscience, indignant against deceit and violence. He returns the bow, gains confidence again and is ready to accompany Philoctetes to his homeland. Only the appearance of Hercules on the stage (deus ex machina) and his reminder that Zeus and Fate command Philoctetes to go under Troy and help the Greeks complete the fight that had begun, persuade the hero and Neoptolemus to follow the Greeks with him. The main character of the tragedy is Neoptolemus. If Antigone, at the request of her conscience, considers it obligatory for herself to violate the will of the king, then by the same impulse Neoptolem goes further: he breaks this promise and refuses to act in the interests of the entire Greek army by treachery against Philoctetes who trusted him. In none of his tragedies did the poet speak with such force for the right of a person to harmonize his behavior with the concept of the highest truth, even if it contradicted the most cunning reasoning (Greek άλλ ? εί δικαια τών σοφών κρείσσω τάδε). It is important that the sympathy of the poet and the audience for the generous and truthful young man is undeniable, while the insidious and unscrupulous Odysseus is portrayed in the most unattractive way. The rule that the end justifies the means is strongly condemned in this tragedy.

In Eante, the plot of the drama is that the dispute between Eant (Ajax) and Odysseus over the armament of Achilles is decided by the Achaeans in favor of the latter. He swore to take revenge first of all on Odysseus and the Atrids, but Athena, the protector of the Achaeans, deprives him of his mind, and in a frenzy he takes domestic animals for his enemies and beats them. Reason has returned to Eant, and the hero feels deeply disgraced. From this moment, the tragedy begins, ending with the suicide of the hero, which is preceded by the famous monologue of Eant, his farewell to life and its joys. A dispute flares up between the Atrids and Eant's half-brother Teukrom. Whether to bury the remains of the deceased, or to leave them for sacrifice to the dogs, is a dispute that is decided in favor of burial.

The main source for the biography of Sophocles is an unnamed biography, usually placed in editions of his tragedies. The most important list of Sophocles' tragedies is kept in the Laurentian library in Florence: C. Laurentianus, XXXII, 9, refers to the tenth or eleventh century; all other lists available in various libraries are copies from this list, with the possible exception of another Florentine list of the XIV century. No. 2725, in the same library.

Since the time of V. Dindorf, the first list is denoted by the letter L, the second - G. The best scholia are also extracted from the L list. The best editions of the scholia belong to Dindorf (Oxford, 1852) and Papageorgios (1888). The tragedies were first published by Aldami in Venice, 1502. From the middle of the 16th century. and until the end of the XVIII century. the dominant edition was the Parisian edition of Tourneba. Brunk (1786-1789) restored the Aldov editorial advantage. W. Dindorf (Oxford, 1832-1849, 1860), Wunder (L., 1831-78), Schneidevin, Tournier, Science, as well as Campbell, Linwood, Jeb rendered the greatest services to text criticism and explanation of tragedies.

A crater on Mercury is named after Sophocles.

Surviving plays:

"Trachinyanki" (c. 450-435 BC)
"Ajax" ("Eant", "Scourge") (between the mid-450s and mid-440s BC)
"Antigone" (c. 442-441 BC)
"Oedipus Rex" ("Oedipus the Tyrant") (c. 429-426 BC)
"Electra" (c. 415 BC)
Philoctetes (409 BC)
"Oedipus at Colon" (406 BC, staged: 401 BC)
"Pathfinders".