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WRITER

Sophocles

497 BC - 406 BC

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Icon of person Sophocles

Sophocles (; Ancient Greek: Σοφοκλῆς, pronounced [so.pʰo.klɛ̂ːs], Sophoklễs; c. 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC) is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those of Aeschylus; and earlier than, or contemporary with, those of Euripides. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Sophocles has received more than 2,868,959 page views. His biography is available in 137 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 132 in 2019). Sophocles is the 10th most popular writer (up from 17th in 2019), the 9th most popular biography from Greece and the 2nd most popular Greek Writer.

Sophocles is most famous for writing the three Theban plays: "Oedipus Rex", "Oedipus at Colonus", and "Antigone".

Memorability Metrics

  • 2.9M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 86.65

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 137

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 18.99

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.68

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

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Among WRITERS

Among writers, Sophocles ranks 10 out of 5,755. Before him are Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Fyodor Dostoevsky, J. R. R. Tolkien, Hans Christian Andersen, Voltaire, and Edgar Allan Poe. After him are Leo Tolstoy, Franz Kafka, Victor Hugo, Virgil, Aesop, and Jules Verne.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 497 BC, Sophocles ranks 1.  Among people deceased in 406 BC, Sophocles ranks 1. After him are Euripides, Callicratidas, Hannibal Mago, and Thrasyllus.

Others Born in 497 BC

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Others Deceased in 406 BC

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In Greece

Among people born in Greece, Sophocles ranks 9 out of 936. Before him are Alexander the Great (-356), Socrates (-470), Homer (-800), Pythagoras (-570), Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881), and Hippocrates (-460). After him are Democritus (-460), Epicurus (-341), Pericles (-494), Kösem Sultan (1590), Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921), and Aeschylus (-525).

Others born in Greece

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Among WRITERS In Greece

Among writers born in Greece, Sophocles ranks 2. Before him are Homer (-800). After him are Aeschylus (-525), Aristophanes (-448), Euripides (-480), Sappho (-630), Pindar (-517), Menander (-342), Nikos Kazantzakis (1883), Alcaeus of Mytilene (-620), Archilochus (-680), and Simonides of Ceos (-556).

Greek born Writers

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