Sophocles Influences
Sophocles What would it be like to be one of the most renown, well recognized, and all around greatest poets of your time period? Only a few very gifted and special people have every had the honour of this title but the few that have been able to call themselves this have gone down in history. William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and Sophocles have had a major impact on the english language and all things written in it. These renown writers and poets have very different writing styles due to their surroundings and I see this come out the most in Sophocles´s writings. Sophocles´s writings were affected by many things, such as the influences gained from growing up in the ¨Golden Age¨ of Greece, living in an
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Oligarchy government, and from being a part of a wealthy family during the times of ancient Greece.
Sophocles´s writings were strongly influenced by his lifetime surroundings during ¨The Golden Age¨ of Greece.
¨The Golden Age¨ in Greece, also called the ¨Age of Pericles,¨ was a time period just more than a century long, beginning with the unlikely defeat of the Persian army and the age ended with the war between AThens and Sparta but this time period, being as short as it was, laid all of the foundations for modern civilizations (¨The Golden Age of Greece¨). During this time period there was a substantial number of advances were made in fields such as government, art, philosophy, drama, and most importantly literature . Sophocles´s writings were affected by these advances in ways such as the creation of drama. Sophocles´s writings were a popular drama of the time called greek tragedies. Another part of Sophocles's writing where you can see the influence of the golden age is his view on women in writing. Many of Sophocles´s writings have women status that was slowly rising to be respectful and this was showing the view of women in ¨The Golden Age (¨Greek Society¨). In the story ¨Oedipus the King,¨ Sophocles has very female characters and the ones he has are in minor roles such as Thebes, a winged creature with a lion´s body and a woman's head (Wilhelm, Jeffrey). This is just one example of how Sophocles life in ¨The Golden Age¨ affected his
writing.
In addition to growing up in ¨The Golden Age¨ of Greece, Sophocles grew up with an Oligarchy government and this too affected his writing. The name of this type of government come from the greek roots oligoi for "few” and arkhein "to rule" (“Greek Society.”). An Oligarchy government is a form of government run by a small number of people such as wealthy landowners, royalty or powerful military figures. f you say that you can't fight the oligarchy, you mean the leaders of such a place. Sometimes the word refers to the few powerful people in charge of a large company or system (“Oligarchy - Dictionary Definition.”). Being raised to this type of government affected his writings in a way that showed that one/few people have a massive amount of power in his stories. As in ¨Oedipus The King,¨ there are normal people with a regular amount of power and then there are people, or creatures, with massive amounts of control and power such as Thebes and Oedipus. This is how the influence of the Oligarchy Government make an appearance in Sophocle´s writings.
Sophocles also had his writings influenced by his social status as a child growing up in a very wealthy family. Growing up in a wealthy family in ancient Greece was similar to being a prince of the time, you would have plentiful amounts of money, slaves, people doing your cooking and laundry, taking care of your entire life (“Sophocles.”). This also meant that he would be exposed to much more and have many more opportunities than less wealthy kids. For example, in 480 BC, when he was 16, he was chosen to lead the Paean (Choral chant to a god) celebrating the decisive Greek victory over the Persians at the sea battle of Salamis. He was also a popular favorite who was active in his community and exercised many talents such as his beautiful physique, his athletic prowess, his skill in music, and outstanding artistic talents (“Sophocles.”). Sophocles´s stories mirror the traits of the risk and it is visible in ¨Oedipus The King¨ with the number of people who are guards, peasants and servants throughout the book, as well as the few people with a lot of money, power, servants, and people generally considered to be ¨under¨ them such as Oedipus and Jocasta. Being rich and wealthy can have a severe impact on one's outlook to the rest of the world and this is seen through Sophocles´s writings.
Sophocles had his writings affected by many influences throughout his life, some of which were influences from growing up in a rich family, living in an Oligarchy government, and his writing in the time of the golden age. By growing up in a rich family he was used to having many servants/maids and this can be seen affecting his writing. By Growing up in an Oligarchy government he was surrounded by a way of living that had one person or very few people with a lot of power and this also shows up in his writings. Last but not least the influences he was exposed to by living in the golden age show up in his writings by people of power being women. If you were surrounded by all of these influences, don't you think they would affect you too?
Oligarchy government, and from being a part of a wealthy family during the times of ancient Greece.
Sophocles´s writings were strongly influenced by his lifetime surroundings during ¨The Golden Age¨ of Greece.
¨The Golden Age¨ in Greece, also called the ¨Age of Pericles,¨ was a time period just more than a century long, beginning with the unlikely defeat of the Persian army and the age ended with the war between AThens and Sparta but this time period, being as short as it was, laid all of the foundations for modern civilizations (¨The Golden Age of Greece¨). During this time period there was a substantial number of advances were made in fields such as government, art, philosophy, drama, and most importantly literature . Sophocles´s writings were affected by these advances in ways such as the creation of drama. Sophocles´s writings were a popular drama of the time called greek tragedies. Another part of Sophocles's writing where you can see the influence of the golden age is his view on women in writing. Many of Sophocles´s writings have women status that was slowly rising to be respectful and this was showing the view of women in ¨The Golden Age (¨Greek Society¨). In the story ¨Oedipus the King,¨ Sophocles has very female characters and the ones he has are in minor roles such as Thebes, a winged creature with a lion´s body and a woman's head (Wilhelm, Jeffrey). This is just one example of how Sophocles life in ¨The Golden Age¨ affected his
writing.
In addition to growing up in ¨The Golden Age¨ of Greece, Sophocles grew up with an Oligarchy government and this too affected his writing. The name of this type of government come from the greek roots oligoi for "few” and arkhein "to rule" (“Greek Society.”). An Oligarchy government is a form of government run by a small number of people such as wealthy landowners, royalty or powerful military figures. f you say that you can't fight the oligarchy, you mean the leaders of such a place. Sometimes the word refers to the few powerful people in charge of a large company or system (“Oligarchy - Dictionary Definition.”). Being raised to this type of government affected his writings in a way that showed that one/few people have a massive amount of power in his stories. As in ¨Oedipus The King,¨ there are normal people with a regular amount of power and then there are people, or creatures, with massive amounts of control and power such as Thebes and Oedipus. This is how the influence of the Oligarchy Government make an appearance in Sophocle´s writings.
Sophocles also had his writings influenced by his social status as a child growing up in a very wealthy family. Growing up in a wealthy family in ancient Greece was similar to being a prince of the time, you would have plentiful amounts of money, slaves, people doing your cooking and laundry, taking care of your entire life (“Sophocles.”). This also meant that he would be exposed to much more and have many more opportunities than less wealthy kids. For example, in 480 BC, when he was 16, he was chosen to lead the Paean (Choral chant to a god) celebrating the decisive Greek victory over the Persians at the sea battle of Salamis. He was also a popular favorite who was active in his community and exercised many talents such as his beautiful physique, his athletic prowess, his skill in music, and outstanding artistic talents (“Sophocles.”). Sophocles´s stories mirror the traits of the risk and it is visible in ¨Oedipus The King¨ with the number of people who are guards, peasants and servants throughout the book, as well as the few people with a lot of money, power, servants, and people generally considered to be ¨under¨ them such as Oedipus and Jocasta. Being rich and wealthy can have a severe impact on one's outlook to the rest of the world and this is seen through Sophocles´s writings.
Sophocles had his writings affected by many influences throughout his life, some of which were influences from growing up in a rich family, living in an Oligarchy government, and his writing in the time of the golden age. By growing up in a rich family he was used to having many servants/maids and this can be seen affecting his writing. By Growing up in an Oligarchy government he was surrounded by a way of living that had one person or very few people with a lot of power and this also shows up in his writings. Last but not least the influences he was exposed to by living in the golden age show up in his writings by people of power being women. If you were surrounded by all of these influences, don't you think they would affect you too?