Sophocles:The Legend of Greek Tragedy

Sophocles: The Legend of Greek TragedySophocles, perhaps more than any other Athenian author, typified the ancient Greek ideal that a man, no matter what his other ambitions and accomplishments, should live fully in the present (Robinson 1). Sophocles exemplified living in the present. He was involved in many different activities, from civic duties to various capacities in the state. He has been called the quintessence of the Greek, the great tragedian, and he has become immortal …

…kill his father and marry his own mother. No matter what anyone did; members of family, friends, and even Oedipus himself, the oracle came true. Many have said that Sophocles was the master of human expression. I believe, in one short statement, Frederic Holderlin sums up the works of Sophocles. "Many have tried, but in vain, with joy to express the most joyful; Here at last, in grave sadness, wholly I find it expressed" (Classical, 297).