Who is Sophocles?

Sophocles

Sophocles was one of the three major tragedians in Athens. He not only believed in the supreme power of gods and destiny, but also required people to be independent. spirit and taking responsibility for one's own actions, which was a characteristic of the ideology during the prosperous period of Athenian democracy.

He creates characters according to his ideals, and does not lose his independent and strong character even if he is in the control of fate. Unlike Aeschylus, Sophocles believed that fate was no longer a concrete god, but an abstract concept.

Chinese name: Sophocles

Foreign name: Sophocles

Nationality: Ancient Greece

Birthplace: Crow, Greece North

Date of birth: 496 BC

Date of death: 406 BC

Occupation: Tragedy writer

Main achievements : One of the three major tragedians in Athens

Representative works: "Antigone", "Oedipus the King"

Characters' lives

Sopho Cleus (about 496 BC - 406 BC), a Cronus, was one of the three great tragedians in Athens. He showed outstanding musical talent when he was young. Sophocles was born in Kronos in the northwest suburbs of Athens. His father was a weapons workshop owner. He received a good education in his early years and was good at music, sports and dance. This greatly influenced Sophocles in his childhood. Sri Lanka. In 480 BC, after the Greeks defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis, young Sophocles was chosen as the leader of the recitation team to celebrate the victory because of his beauty and musical talent. Later Sophocles entered politics. In 443 BC, he served as the financial controller of the "Delia League" with Athens as the leader, and later held important general positions twice. In 440 BC, he was elected as one of the ten generals of Athens and entered the highest level of Athens. At that time, the Delian League headed by Athens was at war with the League headed by Sparta. He once commanded the Athenian navy with Pericles to suppress the Samians who tried to break away from the Delian League. When the Peloponnesian War broke out in 431 BC, and a plague broke out in Athens the following year, he served as a priest. In 413 BC, at the age of about 83, he entered the "Council of Ten" in Athens. After Greece suffered a disastrous defeat at Syracuse in Sicily, this committee was given special powers and entrusted with the important task of restoring the Athenian economy and domestic order. Sophocles' last recorded activity was leading a choir to sing an elegy at the funeral of his deceased rival Euripides before a theater festival in 406 BC. He himself died that year.

The above is all the historical data that are known about Sophocles’ life. These sources are reliable and clearly connected to Athens and its forms of government, religion, and society. Sophocles was born into a wealthy family, well-educated, and was known for his elegance and charm. He had good relations with the famous families of the time and had close personal relationships with outstanding political figures. In 404 BC, Athens surrendered to Sparta. He had died before, so he was lucky in many ways. In one of his later plays, Oedipus at Colonus, he still praised his birthplace and the great city of Athens with great affection. Sophocles began a long and unparalleled career with his first victory at the Dionysian Festival in 468 BC, defeating the great Aeschylus in the process. He has written 123 plays for theater festivals. Since each playwright selected for the competition usually submits four plays, this means that he must have entered the competition approximately 30 times. He may have won 24 times, compared to Aeschylus' 13 and Euripides' 4, and in fact he finished at least second in every competition he entered.

Sophocles lived during the heyday of Athenian democracy, so his plays also reflect the ideology of the prosperous period of Athenian democracy. He supported the democratic system, advocated equality of citizens and the rule of law. He praised man's free will and his tenacity in fighting against bad luck.

His religious concepts tend to be conservative and he advocates maintaining traditional religious concepts. He is good at depicting characters with distinctive personalities and concise and powerful language. He increased the number of actors in the play to three, thus increasing the role of dialogue, but the chorus remained an integral part of the plot. Sophocles was famous in his early years and always won in drama competitions. From 468 BC when he defeated Aeschylus in a drama competition to losing to Euripides at the age of 72, few people could compete with him. To rival. It is said that a statue of a human-headed bird that was good at singing was erected on Sophocles' tomb, which was people's recognition of his great achievements in drama. His life was mostly peaceful and successful. Aristophanes once praised him as "perfect in life and no regrets in death.".

Reformation of drama

Sophocles initially used Aeschylus as a model, but soon formed his own unique style. He first introduced a third actor to more fully express the conflicts of the characters in the play. In his tragedies, the importance of the chorus is greatly reduced, and the importance of dramatic dialogue and action is greatly increased. Dialogue becomes the first thing in the drama and a powerful means of portraying characters. He introduced many terrible scenes to the theater, such as Ajax committing suicide in public, Oedipus blinding his eyes and then appearing on the stage again, etc.

Character works

In his 70-year creative career, Sophocles wrote 123 tragedies and farces. However, only 7 of his works have been handed down to this day, namely "Ajax", "Oedipus the King", "Antigone", "The Maid of Trachis", "Philoctetes" and " Oedipus at Colonus. Among them, "Antigone" and "Oedipus the King" best reflect Sophocles' creative talents.

Legendary works

"Ajax", 442 BC

"Antigone", 441 BC

"Oedipus the King", 431 BC

"Women of Trachis", 429 BC

"Electra", 418 BC

"Philoctetes", 409 BC

"Oedipus at Cronus", 401 BC

Introduction to famous plays

Antigone

Introduction: Antigone's two brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, were at odds with each other and fought fiercely for the throne, resulting in both being killed. Creon succeeded to the throne as his uncle. He declared Polyneices, who had been in exile and used foreign forces to fight for the throne, as a traitor, and no one was allowed to bury his bones. According to ancient Greek divine law, if a person is not buried after death, his ghost cannot enter the underworld. If the body is exposed but not buried, it will offend the gods and bring disaster to the city-state. Antigone fulfilled her duties as a relative without hesitation. The ending of the tragedy is tragic: Antigone hanged herself in prison, her fiancé, Creon's son Haemon, committed suicide in love, Creon's wife committed suicide in anger, leaving Creon alone to sigh.

Evaluation: The play reflects the conflict between national law, divine law, and human relationships. Later Burke, Hegel and others attributed it to the conflict of different types of justice standards. However, in the writings of Sophocles, Creon is a tyrant who regards his own will as the will of the city-state and puts the laws of the city-state above the divine law. He is willful, cruel and cruel, and finally ends up alone.

Oedipus the King

Introduction: The always prosperous city of Thebes suddenly encountered misfortune. The land was barren, crops failed, livestock died of plague, women had miscarriages, and the city-state was in a bloody state. The city was rocking in the waves, and the whole city was filled with songs of survival and groans of pain. The endless pain tortured everyone, and also made King Oedipus, who loved his people like a son, worried. Why is all this happening? Oedipus sent for Apollo's oracle: the city-state suffered this disaster because of the sin committed by a man many years ago in killing the former king Laikos. Only by severely punishing the murderer can the city-state be saved.

The plot revolves around the search for the murderer. There are two clues in the whole play. First, the Theban herdsmen once said that Laius died at the fork, and his wife Jocasta once mentioned Laius's appearance, age, number of attendants, and the time of his death.

All this proves that Oedipus is the murderer of Laius, but Oedipus still does not realize that the man is his father. Another clue is that the herdsman of Corinth told Oedipus that he was not the son of Polybus. When the two shepherds meet, two clues intertwine and the truth emerges. Through flashbacks, the play is linked to each other, step by step, pushing the dramatic conflict to a climax, and the tragic atmosphere also reaches its climax: Jocasta commits suicide, Oedipus stabs his eyes and leaves Thebes. City, begging to purify yourself.

Evaluation: "Oedipus Rex" is the most shocking of Sophocles' plays. The Greeks believed in fate, and this was reflected in tragedy. Aeschylus's "Orestes" is regarded as a drama of fate, and "Oedipus the King" is even more representative of the drama of fate. However, fate is certainly invincible. Oedipus does not wait passively, but launches a heroic struggle. His character, his actions that completely ignore his own pain, and his desire to seek the truth at any cost Determination itself is admirable. It can be said that this is a tragic song of a life-and-death struggle between man and fate.

Oedipus Rex at Colonus

Oedipus Rex at Colonus is a play that is difficult to understand, even for knowledgeable readers. Unlike Oedipus Rex, the plot of this play is not well woven, but its interesting aspect does not lie in the plot. Perhaps the play should be seen as a miracle play or mystery play, exploring the story of a man who became insane with too much guilt and knowledge, and whose life was ultimately embraced and given by the gods and elegant citizens. new meaning. In the end, King Oedipus became a transcendent hero, just like King Arthur, and at the same time, like King Arthur, he ended up in nowhere.

Character Evaluation

When Sophocles died, war broke out again between Athens and Sparta, so the poet's body could not be buried in his hometown. After hearing the news, the Spartan general ordered a truce so that the Athenians could bury him with peace of mind.

Sophocles held a high position throughout his life and developed every aspect of Aeschylus's more primitive techniques; he lived a long life and showed signs of being happy throughout his life; he was One of the great men who graced the world during the Periclean Age. He wrote more than one hundred and twenty outstanding works, ranking him among the greatest playwrights in history.

Evaluation of the work

The 18th century German classical philosopher Hegel believed that “the main contradictions that Sophocles handled best after Aeschylus were all caused by the city-state regime. The contradiction between the two sides of the natural ethical life embodied by the family and the ethical life with universal spiritual significance. The city-state and the family are two pure forces described in the tragedy, because the harmony between these two aspects is harmonious. To illustrate the reality that concerted action in real life constitutes a complete ethical life, I need only mention Aeschylus's "The Furies" and especially Somoncles's "Antigone." This is the truth. Antigone respects the family relationship and the god of the underworld, but Creon only respects the god of heaven, the public life of the city and the ruling power of the social prime minister." Hegel also believed that "King Creon, As the leader of the country, he ordered that the son of Oedipus, who had become an enemy of the motherland, was strictly prohibited from being buried. This ban was essentially reasonable, and it wanted to take care of the happiness of the country. Inspired by an ethical force, Zhan's love for her brother is also sacred. She cannot let his body be buried naked and left to be eaten by birds. If she does not fulfill her duty to bury him, it will be a violation of the bond of flesh and blood. , so she blatantly resisted Creon’s ban.”

Obviously. In the above discussion, Hegel clearly pointed out that the dramatic conflict in "Antigone" is the conflict between the city-state regime, religious tradition, and family ethics. In this conflict, Hegel believes that both sides of the conflict are right. Creon "should take care of the happiness of the whole country", while Antigone is unwilling to violate the friendship between flesh and blood.

Hegel also believed that there was something wrong with both Antigone and Creon. “Antigone lived under Creon’s regime and was a princess herself. She was also the fiancée of Creon’s son Haemon. , so she should obey the king's orders. On the other hand, Creon is also a father and husband. He should also respect the sanctity of the family relationship and should not give orders that violate the relationship between flesh and blood, so these two characters play against each other. What they opposed and destroyed was what was inherent in their respective lives. Antigone died before celebrating her wedding, while Creon lost his son and his wife because of his fiancée's death. He committed suicide because of his son's death."

The great German thinker and writer Goethe, who was contemporary with Hegel, analyzed the contradictions and conflicts in "Antigone". Hegel was very different. Goethe believed that what Hegel said about Creon's behavior was untenable. Goethe said: "No one will believe those words. Creon's behavior was not based on political morality, but on hatred of the dead. Polyneices was violently deprived of his family inheritance. Afterwards, trying to get it back is not a heinous crime against the country. Death is not enough to atone for the crime, but an innocent corpse must be punished." Goethe also said: "An action that violates a moral code must not be political. Extinguished. Creon forbade the burial of Polyneice, which not only polluted the air with the rotting corpse, but also allowed hawks and dogs to carry the pieces of flesh and bones torn from the corpse and carry them around, thus polluting the altar. The act of jealousy is by no means a political virtue, but a political crime." Not only that, every character in the play is against Creon: the elders who form the chorus, the common people, the astrologers, and even his own family are against him. But he didn't listen. Stubborn to the end, Yizhi destroyed his entire family, and he himself finally became just a shadow. ”

Among Chinese researchers, there are also differences of opinion on the conflict between Creon and Antigone. Luo Niansheng criticized Hegel’s contradiction, both sides have opposing sides, and both sides There is a wrong side to the "dialectics". Luo Niansheng believes: "Justice can only be on Antigone's side, and it cannot be on Creon's side at the same time." "Antigone violated the burial ban. Burying her brother Permenice was a legitimate act." But Comrade Luo Niansheng also believed that "Creon's ban on burial had good subjective motives and was to protect the city-state. But the objective effect is not good. In fact, he is harming the city-state; Creon's principle of maintaining social order is correct, but the means he adopts are wrong. ”.

Quotes

Thinknotthatthywordandthinealonemustberight.

Never think that only you are right.

Deathisnottheworstevil, butratherwhenwewishtodieandcannot.

The greatest misfortune is not death, but wanting to die but not being able to die.

There is an ancient saying, famous amongmen, that should not judge fully of a man's life before hedieth, whether it should be called blestorwretched.

Ancient saying: No matter what a person's life should be. Whether it is considered happiness or misery, you cannot evaluate his life until he dies.

Inajustcausetheweako'ercomethestrong.

With the right reasons, the weak can also defeat the strong. .

Nobodyloveslifelikeanoldman.

Nobody wants to live like an old man.

Donothingsecretly; forTimeseesandhearsallthings,anddisclosesall.