Sophocles

Running Head : Sophocles

Sophocles

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Sophocles

Sophocles was one of the great tragic playwrights of ancient Greece . He surpassed the others - Aeschylus and Euripides - in dramatic construction , his plays being notable for their suspenseful , complex plots and for dialogue that is appropriate to his characters

Writing with restraint and simplicity , yet expressing deep and often violent emotion , Sophocles represents the best of classic art . Like the other classic dramatists he restricts his drama to the retelling , in verse , of well-known myths and legends

(O 'Brien 1978 , but arranges his material so that dramatic elements - such as irony - are strengthened Sophocles ' characters are among the most powerful and appealing in literature - heroic but human

Sophocles is credited with several innovations . One was the introduction of a third actor previously there had been only two (each of whom played several characters ) and a chorus (Hogan 1991 . This change heightened the tension of certain dramatic situations , since for the first time three characters could be on the stage at the same time . One account says that Sophocles increased the size of the chorus , but some critics doubt this , because the chorus plays a less important part in his plays than in those of Aeschylus and others (O 'Brien 1978

Perhaps Sophocles ' most important innovation was breaking up the tragic trilogy . Tragedies had always been written as three connected plays with the story brought to a conclusion only with the last play Sophocles made each of his tragedies a...