SOPHOCLES (c. 496-406 B.C.) is one of the great authors of Greek theater. Born in Colonus Hippius, his life was closely linked to the most splendid era of Athens, where he played a prominent role in its cultural aspect. He is mainly responsible for the consolidation of dramatic art as a genre, both for his formal inventions and his thematic and conceptual findings. Author of more than a hundred works, only seven of his tragedies have been preserved intact (Ajax, Antigone, The Women of Trachis, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus), some of which are undisputed peaks of world literature.