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Sophocles was born in Colonus, a village near Athens. Thanks to his father, Sophilus' wealth, he was granted with the
schoolings that the time had to offer. He studied poetry, art, and music, making him the playwright that he was and still
is known for.
His first great accomplishment as a playwright happened when he bested the great playwright, Aeschylus, in the festival
of Dionysus. The first prize at the festival was awarded to Sophocles (and Aeschylus wasn't to happy about it. He soon afterwards
left for Sicily.)
It wasn't that Sophocles plays were better then Aeschylus, but that Sophocles used a more youthful air that the people
liked. The hero was younger but still held up to the expectations of a great antagonist. This hung around the poetry that
Sophocles created and won him first place.
Sophocles is credited with adding another actor to a 2 part play. Usually the playwright and someone else would prefrom
the plays together along with the Chorus. He brought in a third actor to make his plays more interesting and the plot more
interesting as well.
Out of his 100 plays, 96 came in first place, the rest coming in second. He was still writing, even in his old age of
the 80's. He died in 406, leaving his 2 sons to continue with the writing. He was among the most famous of playwrights,
along with Aeschylus and Shakespeare (yes, I know it was a long time after, but he is also a great playwright.)
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