Sophocles (496-406 b.

Sophocles (496-406 b.c.) Along with Aeschylus and Euripides, one of the great tragic poets of ancient Greece. Not much is known about his life. Sophocles was born at Colonus, near Athens. He died at the age of 90, having written more than 100 plays, only seven of which survive. These include Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus, and Electra, all of which are concerned with Greek mythology and are important sources of our knowledge of that subject. Surviving scraps of evidence from the fifth century b.c. show that Sophocles was an actor and a dancer. Drama took a great stride forward when he increased the number of actors from two to three, and made the chorus a more integral part of the play. Sophocles was active as an Athenian citizen, serving in the army, in the treasury, and as a priest. He seems to have possessed serenity and he lived a long life.