Secondary sourceDocument1921
Sophocles entry, Collier's New Encyclopedia
1921
A 1921 encyclopedia article summarizing Sophocles' career, rivalry with Aeschylus, and surviving plays.
An encyclopedia entry summarizing Sophocles' prolific but largely lost body of dramatic work.
About this source
What it is
This entry on Sophocles appeared in Collier's New Encyclopedia, published in New York in 1921. It summarizes his early life, his rivalry with the playwright Aeschylus, and his surviving works.
Why it matters
The article highlights the scale of Sophocles' output, over a hundred plays attributed to him, of which only seven survive, showing students how much ancient literature has been lost over time.
Look closer
- Why might only seven out of over a hundred plays have survived to today?
- What does the rivalry with Aeschylus suggest about the competitive culture of Greek drama?
- How does this entry's list of extant plays compare to other reference works on Sophocles?
This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Sophocles on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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