Sophocles Influence On Oedipus The King

Sophocles was born in Colonus, Hippius, which is now part of Athens, in the year of 496 BC and he was a Greek playwright in drama. Sophocles was not only a Greek philosopher but he was also a politician, priest, and a military leader. Sophocles and two other philosophers, Euripides and Aeschylus, were mainly known as the masters of tragedy. Sophocles was the most successful of the three and always won in play competitions and “never had the ignominy of being voted third” (Cartwright) place. It is said that Sophocles wrote about 120 plays but only a few of them have survived up to this date. The four well known literatures by Sophocles are; Antigone, Oedipus at Colonus, Oedipus Rex, and Electra. Many people think that the main focus of most

He wanted to show that a democracy would more likely make better decisions than a dictator. Sophocles believed that a “dictator makes decisions for the benefit of themselves and a democracy will make decisions for the benefit of the people” (Shearer). Sophocles had a small family, had married twice in his lifetime and had two sons of the names Lophon and Agathon. Due to Sophocles great achievements and contribution to his society and people he was very well respected by the Athenians. This respect lead these people to place him in a position for the military services. He then became “responsible for collection of tribute from Athens subjected territories” (Sophocles-Biography). His priesthood was basically like a healing god and his devotions were for worshipping another god of health, Asclepius. “Sophocles is praised not only for the structural soundness of his work but for also depicting the complexities of human existence”

These seven plays were the “surviving full plays” (Cartwright) of this philosopher. Antigone was probably written about 442 BCE and it was mainly about a woman whom was split between public and private duties. Oedipus The King was a play about this so called famous king Oedipus who loved his mother way too much and this play was written somewhere between 429-420 BCE. Philoctetes is about Odysseus and how he persuades a certain hero to join the Trojan War and this play was written during 409 BCE. Another work of literature by Sophocles is, Oedipus at Colonus and this play was written in 401 BCE, this play is about the final parts of the trilogy in Oedipus life. The play, Ajax is about the hero of the Trojan War and his wounded pride of victory. Electra was about two siblings that seek revenge for their father’s murder and Women of Trachis was about Hercules’ wife and her failure in attempting to regain Hercules’