SOPHOCLES

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The second of the three great tragedians of the 5th century, and one of the most famous the world has seen. Son of Sophillos, he was born in the Attic municipality of Kolonos in 496 BC, in a wealthy family. He was well-educated and excelled in music and gymnastics competitions as a child. During the epics, after the naval battle of Salamis, Sophocles, holding a lyre, played in front of the procession. He was so well taught in music that he composed the choruses of his tragedies himself. He was taught tragedy by Aeschylus, only to defeat his teacher, with his first appearance as a dramatic poet in the fight of 468, with the tetralogy of "Triptolemus", and with Cimon and his co-generals as judges. For ten years, these two great tragedians dominated the theater. Sophocles was interested in political matters and was honored by the Athenians, and in fact, after the presentation of "Antigone", they elected him general in the war against the Samians (441 - 439). Pericles sent him to Lesvos and Chios, where he met the poet Iona. At this time he became friends with Herodotus, whose historical work he seems to have studied. In 443/2 he was honored with other positions, even priestly. He founded the sanctuary of Menitus Heracleus and wrote and set to music a paean to Asclepius. Being a friend of the Athenian people and a liberal, he never came to the Court of a tyrant or a king like Aeschylus, Euripides, Agathon, etc.

In his private life Sophocles was full of compliments, graceful and a friend of love. From Anemostat's wife he had a son, Iophontas, who, as is said, fled to the court to request that his father be placed under restrain, "as mentally unstable". He died at the age of 90 in the autumn of 406. Euripides had died a little earlier, whom Sophocles mourned, wearing a gray robe and leaving the actors and dance unadorned in his performances. He was buried in the paternal tomb, which was on the road to Decelia and a siren was placed on his grave. Paying homage, the municipality, by its resolution, determined that a sacrifice should be offered every year to the man's virtue. The great statue of the poet was erected in the theater of Dionysos, at the suggestion of the orator Lycurgus, a copy of this is the marble statue that is in the Lateran Museum in Rome. According to the grammarian Aristophanes of Byzantium, Sophocles wrote 123 dramas, including elegies and paeans. And in dramatic contests he won more victories than both Aeschylus and Euripides. Only seven of his tragedies have survived.

Works

• Philoctetes
• Antigone
• Electra
• Trachineae
• Aeas
• Oedipus Rex
• Oedipus in Colono

Quotes

1. NOTHING WORSE THAN MONEY HAS BEEN SEEN AMONG MEN
2. ALL IS WITHERED BY ALMIGHTY TIME
3. NO ONE LOVES LIFE AS MUCH AS THE OLD MAN
4. IT'S NOT NICE TO BLAME THE OTHER FOR HIS ANGER, WHILE YOU DON'T REALIZE YOUR OWN
5. OLD AGE IS PAINFUL, NOT BECAUSE WE CEASE TO ENJOY, BUT BECAUSE WE CEASE TO HOPE
6. GIFTS OF ENEMIES ARE NOT GIFTS
7. A MAN EVEN IF WISE, IT IS NOT AT ALL SHAMEFUL TO LEARN A LOT AND NOT EXTEND THE BOW TOO MUCH
8. THERE IS NO GREATER EVIL THAN ANARCHY
9. LOVE IS INVINCIBLE IN BATTLE
10. MOST OF THE TIME, A SECOND THOUGHT DISPROVES OUR FIRST THOUGHT
11. OLD AGE AND TIME TEACH EVERYTHING
12. IN BRIEF SPEECH, THERE ARE MANY WISDOMS
13. EVERY THING IS GOOD IN ITS TIME
14. LUCK NEVER HELPS THOSE WHO DON'T HELP THEMSELVES
15. SILENCE HAS MANY PLEASANT RESULTS
16. A WOMAN'S ORNAMENT IS SILENCE
17. ONLY TIME SHOWS THE RIGHTEOUS MAN
18. I WAS NOT BORN TO HATE, BUT TO LOVE
19. THE WHOLE GENERATION OF BARBARIANS IS FOND OF MONEY
20. HE WHO GETS OLD BECOMES A CHILD AGAIN
21. EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK, YOU WILL FIND PAIN
22. THE GREATEST GOOD IS TO DO GOOD IN EVERY WAY
23. IT'S PAINFUL TO KNOW THE TRUTH AND THAT NOT BEING ABLE TO HELP YOU
24. WHAT ONE SEARCHES FOR, ONE FINDS. ONE LOSES WHAT ONE NEGLECTS
25. THE GOOD MAN BELIEVES IN ANYTHING HE HEARS
26. NO ONE LOVES LIFE AS MUCH AS THE OLD MAN
27. NO ONE CAN BE HAPPY WITHOUT EFFORT
28. STUPIDITY IS THE SISTER OF WICKEDNESS
29. TRUTH IS ALWAYS THE RIGHT
30. YOU CAN SEE MOST PEOPLE BE RUINED FROM EVIL PROFITS THAN SAVED
31. WHILE MAN HAS THE WISDOM TO CREATE ARTS THAT NO ONE COULD EVEN HOPE FOR, SOMETIMES HE DOES GOOD AND SOMETIMES EVIL
32. FOR ONE TO AVOID SUFFERING IS VERY PLEASURABLE, HOWEVER TO LEAD LOVED ONES INTO TRAGEDY IS A GREAT SADNESS
33. HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER TASTED ANY EVIL IN THEIR LIFE
34. HE WHO IS GOOD ADMINISTRATOR OF HIS HOUSEHOLD, SHALL ALSO PROVE A WORTHY GOVERNOR OF THE CITY
35. THERE IS NO REPUBLIC THAT BELONGS TO ONE MAN
36. ALL MEN CAN FALL INTO ERRORS
37. STUBBORNNESS RESULTS IN SETBACKS
38. NO ONE CAN POLLUTE THE GODS
39. EVEN THE WICKED FAIL BADLY, WHEN THEY DECORATE THEIR EVIL PLANS FOR PROFIT WITH BEAUTIFUL WORDS
40. ONE THINKING RIGHT IS THE BEST OF ALL
41. THERE ARE MANY EVILS BUT NOTHING MORE EVIL THAN MAN
42. BEST IS JUSTICE, EXCELLENT IS HEALTH AND MOST PLEASURABLE WHAT ONE DESIRES TO ENJOY
43. HOPE IS WHAT SUSTAINS MOST MORTALS
44. THERE ARE OCCASIONS WHEN JUSTICE IS HARMFUL
45. THE EFFORT OF THE RESEARCHER DISCOVERS EVERYTHING
46. HAPPY ARE THEM WHOSE LIFE HAS NOT MET SORROWS
47. EVIL TEACHES EVIL
48. NOTHING IS DEARER TO A MAN THAN FATHERLAND
49. NO KNOWLEDGEABLE PERSON SHOULD CONSIDER SOMEONE HAPPY UNLESS HE SEES THEM BEING HAPPY UP TO THE END OF THEIR LIFE
50. THOSE IN TOO MUCH A HURRY STUMBLE
51. NO ONE WHO THINKS RIGHT IS EVER EVIL
52. WHAT ONE SEARCHES FOR, ONE FINDS, WHAT ONE NEGLECTS, ONE LOSES
53. LIES DO NOT BEAR FRUIT
54. A LIE DOESN'T LIVE UNTIL OLD AGE
55. BIG WORDS, AFTER THEY PAYED THE ARROGANT WITH MANY MISFORTUNES, THEY TAUGHT THEM IN THEIR OLD AGE TO BE PRUDENT
56. LUCK DOESN'T HELP THOSE WHO DON'T WORK
57. IN THE CITY WHERE THE PARENTS ARE SUBJECTED TO THE CHILDREN THERE IS NO PRUDENCE
58. HE WHO FINDS PLEASURE IN TALKING ALL THE TIME FORGETS THAT HE BECOMES ANNOYING TO HIS COMPANY
59. LUCK MAKES AND LUCK BREAKS
60. OLD AGE DOESN'T COME ALONE, SO DOES DEATH
61. EVERY THING IS GOOD IN ITS TIME
62. LUCK NEVER HELPS THOSE WHO DON'T HELP THEMSELVES
63. TO ERR IS HUMAN, AND FOR EVERY MISTAKE, THE WISER IS HE WHO CORRECTS HIS MISTAKE AND IS NOT INDIFFERENT
64. THE PRUDENT MAN SHOULD NOT NEGLECT CIRCUMSTANCES
65. AN ARMY WOULD NOT HAVE GOOD DISCIPLINE IF THEY WERE NOT BASED ON FEAR AND RESPECT. NO MATTER HOW STABLE A MAN IS, HE MUST KNOW THAT HE WILL BE PUNISHED FOR EVEN THE SMALLEST OFFENSE
66. IF THEY WERE NOT BASED ON FEAR, THE LAWS OF THE REPUBLIC WOULD NEVER HAVE THE FORCE THEY HAVE, AND SHOULD HAVE
67. LITTLE EVENTS THAT SEEM INSIGNIFICANT TO US ARE ACTUALLY WORTH ADMIRATION, THEREFORE FROM A WISE MAN, NOTHING SHOULD BE OVERLOOKED
68. THE ANCHOR THAT HOLDS A MOTHER TO LIFE IS HER CHILDREN
69. I CAN NEITHER PRAISE, NOR REPROACH THE LIFE OF A MAN, WHATEVER SITUATION HE IS IN, BECAUSE HE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR IT
70. FATE ADJUSTS MISFORTUNE AND HAPPINESS, AND SOMETIMES IT RAISES THE UNFORTUNATE AND SOMETIMES IT BRINGS DOWN THE HAPPY. WHO CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE
71. SORROW BEGETS ANOTHER SORROW
72. BE SURE THAT A REPUBLIC, WHERE RUDENESS AND EXTRAVAGANCE GO UNPUNISHED, WILL FIND, AFTER A HAPPY JOURNEY, A PLUNGE INTO THE ABYSS
73. IT IS NOT THE SIGN OF A GOOD DOCTOR TO CALL ON MAGIC POWERS WHEN SURGERY IS NEEDED TO SAVE THE PATIENT FROM DISEASE
74. IN FRONT OF THOSE WHO HAVE GONE WRONG, WITHOUT THEIR WILL, BY A MISJUDGMENT, WE MUST CONTROL OUR ANGER
75. HOW BAD IS IT TO PRAY FOR DEATH TO COME AND HE DOES NOT HEAR YOUR PRAYERS
76. IF DEATH COMES EARLY, I THINK THAT, FOR ME AT LEAST, IS A PROFIT. FOR ONE WHO LIVES, AS I AM, AMONG INNUMERABLE SUFFERINGS, HOW IS IT POSSIBLE NOT TO CONSIDER DEATH AN IMPROVEMENT
77. WHATEVER MAN'S ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FUTURE, HE WILL NOT FIND A WAY TO AVOID DEATH