Biography of Sophocles Essay Example

📌Category: Sophocles, Writers
📌Words: 1338
📌Pages: 5
📌Published: 25 April 2022

Sophocles goes down in history for his admirable career as a dramatist and member of the Athenian polis. Notably, in politics, he held the positions of treasurer, general, and council member. As a playwright, Sophocles had been idolized in Athenian culture for his social influence. Especially with the following tragedies: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone; Sophocles’ Oedipus Trilogy is his best known and most produced set of surviving plays. Josh Beer’s Sophocles and the Tragedy of Athenian Democracy spans the life of Sophocles from 496 to 405 BC (19). Beer states that most biographical information attributed to this playwright has been lost in history; a fair share of information about Sophocles is scanty and unreliable (25). However, it has proved insightful to hold his life against the political and cultural background of this particular era. Alongside this contextualization, there are a few records of biographical information and anecdotes from valuable historical testimonies of surviving authors. 

The majority of Sophocles’ life has often been characterized as fortunate and successful. The son of Sophillus was born a mile and a half northwest of Athens, Greece (Beer 19). Different sources align to back the many musical and athletic achievements acquired by Sophocles in his youth. The way the Athenian youth learned at the beginning of the 5th century BC can tell us about Sophocles’ early education background. Memorization and oral presentation were the basis of the curriculum—a culture that was not book-heavy. Therefore, much of what Sophocles retained at an early age was by word of mouth and application. Kirk Ormand in A Companion to Sophocles wrote in agreement with the claim that Sophocles lived a good life as he only suffered a variety of “ordinary misfortunes” (26). One of the misfortunes of his life was the death of someone closest to him (mother, sister, child, or wife). Nevertheless, he had lasting, successful careers and sons who survived him. This is regarded as a fortunate life in 5th century BC Athens, which is why it has been sentimentalized to this day. 

Sophocles was born into an emerging Athenian democracy and passed away before they lost the Peloponnesian War. The nature of his upbringing and death represent the political stability of Athens. It was not a smooth transition from tyranny to democracy. Several ostracisms—an Athenian democratic procedure in which a citizen is expelled from the city-state—occurred throughout Sophocles’ life (Beer). He contributed a fair share to the Athenian government when elected into important positions by the demos—the common people of a city-state in Ancient Greece—of Athens. 

All things considered, the political construct that Sophocles had been brought up with translated not only into his political career but also his dramatic career. He represented the contemporary polis through the dramatization of moral, political, and religious issues in the theater. However, Sophocles’ work does not utterly present the audience with real names, dates, and specific details. It is safe to say that much of his work was presented in the form of myths and “memories of a legendary past” (Beer 3). His obsession with integrating extreme acts and behavior into his plays is a direct result of his experience in a transitioning government. In comparison to Homer’s focus on the hero as an individual, Sophocles places tension on the fate of the heroic figure against the polis he lives in. Specifically, a character is faced with an extreme, reacts impulsively, and is led to a greater calamity. Respectively, the pedigree-like influence of tragedians from Solon to Homer, then Sophocles, exhibits a theater culture that integrated political and moral discourse (Beer 2). It has been shown that the plays forge a cultural identity in the Greeks and more broadly all those who attended. The citizens and visitors who attended the Dionysia—a grand festival of theatrical performances—believed or learned to believe that citizens should obey the law, not one individual or group (Ormand 287). The form of government that best supports this “rule of law” notion is democracy. Collectively, they believed that this would benefit all citizens, whereas oligarchy and tyranny depended on individual leaders to keep their power in check. 

His presence in the theater had earned him a reputation of a “charming, successful, pious, popular” man (Ormand 25). As Ormand points out, early in Sophocles' career, he was Aeschylus' inferior adversary; later, he was Euripides' chief rival (25). Aeschylus and Euripides enjoy a reputation as great poets and playwrights similar to that of Sophocles. A teacher-student relationship eventually developed between Sophocles and Aeschylus, his earliest opponent (Ormand 28). The influence of the successful tragedian Aeschylus is evident throughout much of Sophocles' work. This apprenticeship in classic tragedy prepared Sophocles for a career as a playwright, although their personal relationship remains unmarked. Sophocles was successful in his rookie career and gained a place at the City Dionysia—the place that has been firmly established as his primary venue—by meeting the following requirements: three polished tragedies finalized, musical composition abilities, choreography experience, and extensive theater production knowledge (Ormand 28). The first time he triumphed was at this culturally-acclaimed festival in 468 BC (Ormand 25). Sophocles had defeated his mentor and rival, Aeschylus, in the process of this. A successful start to his career foreshadowed outstanding success and longevity. 

Greek theater played an important role in the social culture of Athenian society. Beer advanced the idea that tragedy was an Athenian invention (1). Three major, renowned tragic playwrights in the 5th century BC were Athenians. Simultaneously, society witnessed both the “flowering of Athenian democracy and the rise and fall of the Athenian empire” (Beer 1). Despite appearing to lack total military and political authority over other Greeks, Athenians were unrivaled in terms of cultural superiority. This group of Greeks built a renowned reputation in their schools for the arts, history, philosophy, and science (Beer 2). The theater became the main part of Athen’s unique cultural milieu. The City Dionysia showcased the cultural achievements of Athenians as well as their wealth and power. 

In the opening chapter of his Public and Performance in the Greek Theatre, Arnott suggests that these festivals take place later in the winter and early in the spring. While the dates were related to religious celebrations, the times were chosen to accommodate the participants' strenuous effort to dress in costumes and masks. Alongside being the theatrical center of Athens, the Theatre of Dionysus was also well known for its south-facing shading abilities for the actors (Arnott). Chapter 2, “The Actor Seen,” included the detail that these individuals were not full-time performers. In the 5th century BC, Athens had their major festivals within 3 weeks annually (Arnott). Although smaller and local events were held throughout the year, it did not diminish the fact that actors turned to other hobbies and jobs. 

Like traditions and contemporary social issues, stagecraft and the physical space of the venue influenced the Greek plays. The set actors were valued because the skills and training of these individuals allowed a successful production and performance. The audience played just as well a part in Greek theater; the playwrights anticipated their preconceptions and responses to their work (Arnott). Arnott, however, focused most of his attention on the theater's architectural design in Public and Performance in the Greek Theatre. He wrote in his introduction that the space available greatly influenced the actor's ability to adjust and the production crew's means to decorate. Many constraints were imposed on actors and writers in terms of location, whether small or large, indoors or outdoors. As a result, different strategies were required when certain scenes and details were put into focus during a play, depending on size and conditions. For example, a closed space allowed simpler opportunities to highlight a focal point of action. 

By the 5th century BC, Greek theater had become a living art form in Athens. Chapter 4 mentions the argumentative dispositions (Arnott). The acts where a debate occurred are seen to be the heart of the play. Playwrights use this as a space for the audience’s scrutiny, examination, or re-examination (Beer 3). The theater enabled a connection between the audience and civic institutions. Attending plays constituted civic duty since tragedies were commonly staged against the backdrop of the institutions of the polis. The chorus was also a familiar element of Greek dramas, supporting the argumentative discourse and providing a political dimension (Beer 3). The fate of the mythical characters was acted out by the chorus, usually in the form of singing and dancing. This was an "involved" role in the theater because it was composed of ordinary citizens. This was done to represent a certain part of the community onstage. Much of what they did displayed what it was like to be an active citizen of a city, set the atmosphere, provided background, and, especially, underscored the tragic action.

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