Secondary sourceBook1912
Sophocles: Introduction
Francis Storr · 1912
A 1912 scholarly introduction by Francis Storr to Sophocles' plays, covering his life, the battle of Salamis, and his dramatic career.
This 1912 introduction studies Sophocles' life and career, summarizing what later writers believed about him.
About this source
What it is
This is an introduction written by Francis Storr in 1912 to accompany an edition of Sophocles' plays. It discusses Sophocles' early life, his role as a boy at the celebration after the battle of Salamis, and his place among the great Athenian tragedians.
Why it matters
Storr compares Sophocles to the other great tragedians, Aeschylus and Euripides, showing how later scholars tried to place Sophocles within the artistic and political world of ancient Athens. It reveals how little solid biographical information survives about Sophocles, and how much of what we think we know comes from later writers piecing together fragments and legend.
Look closer
- Why might so little reliable information survive about a famous ancient playwright?
- How does the author distinguish between fact and 'later myth and gossip'?
- What does this introduction tell us about how Sophocles was viewed centuries after his death?
This book 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.
More Sophocles sources
Meet the AI Sophocles →Primary source
Oedipus Rex
Sophocles · c. 429 BCE
Primary source
Antigone
Sophocles · c. 441 BCE
Primary source
Oedipus at Colonus
Sophocles · written shortly before 406 BCE; first performed 401 BCE
BookSecondary source
Poetics
Aristotle · c. 335 BCE
SculptureSecondary source
Statue of Sophocles (Lateran type)
Roman copy, 1st century CE, of a Greek original of the 4th century BCE
Ready when you are
Start chatting with Sophocles now.
20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.