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A Roman bust of Sophocles

A marble relief of a poet, perhaps Sophocles

Sophocles (497 BC, 496 BC, or 495 BC – 406 BC) was an Ancient Greek writer who wrote over 100 plays, according to the Suda. Only seven of his tragedies have survived complete. Sophocles was the second of the three greatest Ancient Greek writers of tragedies, the others were Aeschylus and Euripides.

The most famous of Sophocles' tragedies are those about Oedipus and Antigone: these are often called the Theban plays. Each play was a part of different tetralogy (set of four), the other members of which are now lost.