Who is Sophocles?
Sophocles was one of the three great Greek tragedians who took classical society by storm with their work, radically reforming the arts and culture in Ancient Greek. He falls in the middle of the three in terms of the time that he lived and worked, with Aeschylus preceding him and Euripides following. In addition to being an accomplished playwright, Sophocles was also a prominent figure in Greek society, beloved and revered as a true gentleman by Athenian standards. He was born in 496 BCE in a small rural community, later moving to Athens. As an Athenian, Sophocles was twice elected the position of general, and he served as a priest, at one point allowing his home to be used for religious functions until an appropriate temple could be built. He was also known for being an amiable, sociable, very friendly man, and these traits were held in high esteem by the Athenians, so he quickly rose to social prominence. He is also said to have been extremely beautiful by Athenian standards. He had
