Sophocles

American  

[sof-uh-kleez] / ˈsɒf əˌkliz /

noun

1. 495?–406? b.c., Greek dramatist.

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Sophocles British  

/ ˈsɒfəˌkliːz, ˌsɒfəˈkliːən /

noun

1. ?496–406 _bc , Greek dramatist; author of seven extant tragedies: Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Trachiniae, Electra, Philoctetes , and Oedipus at Colonus

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Sophocles Cultural  

1. An ancient Greek poet, author of Oedipus Rex and Antigone. He is counted, with Euripides and Aeschylus, among the great Greek authors of tragedies.

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Other Word Forms

• Sophoclean adjective

Example Sentences

Sophocles, of course, didn’t need Oedipus to chat directly with the audience.

From Los Angeles Times

Sophocles himself might have approved the tragic symmetry.

From The Wall Street Journal

In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus confronts a plague that has been laying waste to Thebes.

From Los Angeles Times

I thought what might follow would be Mr. Icke’s most provocative—and logical and interesting—departure from Sophocles, an ending of a more ambiguous and less gruesome kind.

From The Wall Street Journal

Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides illuminated how pride, injustice and failed leadership could threaten a community.

From Salon