About the Author
Sophocles (ca. 496-406 B.C.) was born in Attica, Greece, to a wealthy family. His stellar education and social prominence perhaps led to his becoming a pillar of his community throughout his life. Sophocles played key roles in many of Athens’s governing bodies, whether political, military, or financial. He made a name for himself as a dramatist in 468 B.C., when he famously won the Dionysia drama competition. This honor was no small accomplishment, as Sophocles beat out Aeschylus, who had for some time been considered Athens’s greatest playwright. Sophocles went on to write many plays in his long lifetime, and several of them survive today. He is best known for his Oedipus cycle, which includes Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonnus, as well as for his other dramas Electra, Philoctetes, and Ajax. Many of Sophocles’s works deal with the painful human dilemmas that even the greatest of leaders must face. To this day, Sophocles is considered one of the founding fathers of Western drama, with his plays enjoying thousands of years on the stage in performances around the world.
Back to topOpening Lines (Experimental)
ODYSSEUS.
NEOPTOLEMUS.
CHORUS _of Mariners_.
PHILOCTETES.
Messenger, _disguised as a Merchantman_.
HERACLES, _appearing from the sky_.
SCENE. A desert shore of the Island of Lemnos.
ODYSSEUS. NEOPTOLEMUS.
Is uninhabited, untrodden of men.
Wine-offering, but his noise disturbed our peace.
The ...
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Philoctetes
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