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Sophocles, son of Sophilos, from the deme Colonus, Athenian, tragedian, born during the seventy-third Olympiad, and thus he was seventeen years older than Socrates. Sophocles was first to employ three actors and the so-called tritagonist, and he was first to bring forth a chorus of fifteen young men. Before then, choruses consisted of twelve youths. He was called Bee because of his sweetness. He himself began competing with a play against a play but not conducting the levy. He wrote elegy and paeans and an account in prose of the chorus, in rivalry with Thespis and Choirilos. The boys whom he had were Iophon, Leosthenes, Ariston, Stephanos, and Menekleides. He died at ninety years, outliving Euripides. He taught 123 plays (or as some say, many more), and won twenty-three victories.

*sofoklh=s, *swfi/lou, *kolwnh=qen, *)aqhnai=os, tragiko/s, texqei\s kata\ th\n og# *)olumpia/da, w(s presbu/teros ei)=nai *swkra/tous e)/th iz#. ou(=tos prw=tos trisi\n e)xrh/sato u(pokritai=s kai\ tw=| kaloume/nw| tritagwnisth=|, kai\ prw=tos to\n xoro\n e)k pentekai/deka ei)sh/gage ne/wn, pro/teron duokai/deka ei)sio/ntwn. proshgoreu/qh de\ *me/litta dia\ to\ gluku/. kai\ au)to\s h)=rce tou= dra=ma pro\s dra=ma a)gwni/zesqai, a)lla\ mh\ stratologei=sqai. kai\ e)/grayen e)legei/an te kai\ *paia=nas kai\ lo/gon kataloga/dhn peri\ tou= xorou=, pro\s *qe/spin kai\ *xoiri/lon a)gwnizo/menos. pai=das de\ ou(\s e)/sxen ou(=toi, *)iofw=n, *lewsqe/nhs, *)ari/stwn, *ste/fanos, *meneklei/dhs. teleuta=| de\ meta\ *eu)ripi/dhn, e)tw=n #4#. e)di/dace de\ dra/mata rkg#, w(s de/ tines kai\ pollw=| plei/w, ni/kas de\ e)/labe kd#.

[Professor Tyrrell's notes to this entry have been published in the online journal Electronic Antiquity 9.1 (2006). Refer to web address 1.]
See also sigma 816, sigma 817, sigma 820.

Wm. Blake Tyrrell (Altered keywords) on 1 October 2003@21:17:11.
William Hutton (cosmetics, modified translation, renumbered footnotes, added note and link to Electronic Antiquity) on 6 September 2006@09:51:48.
David Whitehead (more keywords) on 6 September 2006@10:28:07.
William Hutton (Removed otiose footnote numbers) on 18 September 2006@07:45:58.
Catharine Roth (tweaked note) on 6 December 2013@23:57:09.
David Whitehead (another note; more keywords) on 30 December 2013@08:05:18.

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