Sophocles Book summary

Sophocles is considered to be one of the greatest playwrights of ancient Greece, and his ability to capture the human imagination is demonstrated through the continued prevalence of his work. Sophocles began working as an actor, and then later transitioned into being a playwright. In addition to being an excellent playwright, Sophocles was also an active contributor to Athenian politics and Military affairs. He cemented his reputation as a playwright by defeating Aeschylus in competition and went on to win several such competitions throughout his life. Sophocles happened to be practicing during the time of two other great playwrights of classical Greek theatre in the fifth century BC, Aeschylus, and Euripides. However, Sophocles was the only playwright among the three who accepted the power of the Olympian gods and communicated this belief through his work. Sophocles chose a limited range of subjects for inspiration as he seemed focussed on writing plays that explored the perception of right and wrong as well as destiny and human suffering.

Sophocles was not only an imaginative writer but he was also skilled in his understanding of form. He propelled Greek theatre with his innovative technical changes as he introduced a third-speaking character in the scenes. He also minimized the role of the chorus and focussed his plays on character development.