Sophocles (c.496 B.C.406 B.C.). Oedipus the King. The Harvard
Classics. 190914. SOPHOCLES, the most perfectly balanced among
the three great masters of Greek tragedy, was born in Colonus,
near Athens, about 495 B. C. His father was a man of wealth, and
the poet received the best education of the time, being
especially distinguished in music. He began his career as a
PARAtist at the age of twenty-seven, when he gained a victory
over Æschylus; and from that time till his death in 405 B. C. he
retained the foremost place as a writer of tragedy. Like a true
Greek, he played his part in public affairs, both in peace and
in war, and served his country as a diplomat and as a general.
He was profoundly admired by his contemporaries for character as
well as genius, and after his death was honored as a hero with
annual sacrifices. His son, Iophon, and his grandson, Sophocles,
both gained distinction as tragic poets. Besides lyrics,
elegies, and epigrams, Sophocles is said to have composed upward
of one hundred and twen