ABSTRACT
From early on, Sophocles received training in the arts. As a youth, he earned a coveted position within the dancing chorus, celebrating the Greeks’ sea victory over the Persian fleet at Salamis. Sophocles attempted to understand human suffering by: reassessing traditions and ideals from the past, questioning the public and private responsibility of the individual, and exploring profound issues of justice and morality. While Aeschylus struggled with the gods, and Euripides strove for psychological realism, Sophocles focused on the human 'divinity' of the uncompromising hero or heroine as they battled the unseen forces of fate. Sophocles played a substantial role in the Athenian government prior to and during the Peloponnesian Wars. During the year 415 BC, at the advanced age of 83, and following many years of dedicated civil service, Sophocles was appointed to a special executive post within the government.
