Sophokles - Sophocles

Along with Aeschylus and Euripides, he is one of the three great tragic poets of ancient Greece. Born and raised in a wealthy family in Colonus, a suburb of Athens, during the heyday of Athens, he was given the best education, and after winning his first tragedy competition at the age of 29, he continued to write until the age of 90, just before his death, and is said to have written 123 works. As a politician, he held high-ranking positions such as Minister of Finance, General, and Supreme Political Commissar, and in his later years he also served as a priest, leading a popular and happy life.

In 480 BC, the young Sophocles dressed himself beautifully and conducted a boys' choir at the celebrations following the victory at the naval Battle of Salamis, which dealt a decisive blow to the enemy Persia. His elder son Aeschylus participated in the battle as a soldier, and his junior son Euripides is said to have been born at the time, which allows us to characterize the styles of the three great tragic poets as poets of the rise, heyday, and decline periods. This completes the paradox that Sophocles, who was loved by the people as a blessed son of the gods, depicted the height of human suffering and that the purest tragedy arose from a calm and cheerful character.

Only seven of his works remain in their entirety. Ajax, who, despite being considered the strongest military commander, lost his honor, failed in his attempt to clear this humiliation, and died a beautiful death because he could not live a beautiful life. Antigone, who ignored the decree of the authorities that forbade the burial of her traitorous brother, fulfilled her duty as a blood relative and sacrificed herself to uphold the eternal law of the gods of mourning the dead. The Trachisians, in which a loving wife tries to regain her lost husband's love, but ends up killing him instead and taking her own life. Oedipus Rex, who was ruined by discovering through her own will that a seemingly happy and great king had unknowingly become the murderer of his father and the husband of his mother. Electra, who lives only for the desire to avenge her murdered father, cooperates with her brother who has returned home to achieve revenge. "Philoctetes" is a rich depiction of humanity in the interactions between the protagonist, a righteous man and a conspirator, contrasting them with each other, centering on the protagonist, who is left behind on a deserted island and suffers from illness but maintains a solitary spirit. And in "Oedipus at Colonus" (posthumously performed), which he created just before his death, the elderly protagonist, who has experienced the height of suffering, reaches the sanctuary of Colonus on the outskirts of Athens after a long journey, and after pouring out the love, gratitude, hatred and curses that fill him, this sinless yet impure man miraculously passes away peacefully, reconciled with God.

Sophocles mercilessly depicts the suffering of the innocent. Suffering and death are the reality of human existence, and are inevitable. The protagonist faces a decisive situation with courage, does not compromise, and chooses death and ruin over a life of humiliation. Tragic beauty and tragic sublimity shine in the way this strong and noble human being endures suffering. The plot of the play is based on the myth, and the audience knows the situation and the ending. The contrast between the words and actions of the characters in the play, spoken unknowingly, and the audience who knows the truth creates a great dramatic effect, and this technique of heightening the tragic tension is called Sophoclean or tragic irony.

[Rinsho Takebe]

"Complete Greek Tragedy II: Sophocles" (translated by Go Shigekazu, Matsudaira Chiaki, et al., 1960, Jinbun Shoin)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

アイスキロス、エウリピデスとともに古代ギリシア三大悲劇詩人の1人。アテネの最盛期に、アテネ市郊外コロノスの裕福な家庭に生まれ育ち、最高の教育に恵まれ、29歳で悲劇競演に初出場して優勝して以来、死の直前の90歳まで創作活動を続け、123編の作品があったと伝えられる。政治家としても財務長官、将軍、最高政治委員などの高官職を歴任し、晩年には神祇(じんぎ)官も務めて人望のある幸福な生涯を送った。

　紀元前480年、外敵ペルシアに決定的打撃を与えたサラミスの海戦勝利の祝賀祭で、少年ソフォクレスは美しく身を飾って少年合唱隊の指揮をした。先輩アイスキロスは一兵士としてこの海戦に参加し、後輩エウリピデスはこのとき生まれたと伝えられているが、このことから三大悲劇詩人を興隆、全盛、衰退期の詩人としてそれぞれの作風を特徴づけることもできる。祝福された神の寵児(ちょうじ)として人々に愛されたソフォクレスが、人間苦悩の極まるところを描き、穏やかにして明朗な人物からもっとも純粋な悲劇性が生じたという逆説がここに完成する。

　七作品だけが完全な形で現存している。最強の武将であるとの自認にもかかわらずその名誉を奪われ、この屈辱を晴らそうとして失敗し、美しく生きられないがゆえに美しい死を遂げた『アイアス』。反逆者たる兄の埋葬を禁ずるという権力側の法令を無視して、血縁者としての義務を果たし死者の追悼という神々の永遠の法を守って身を犠牲にした『アンティゴネ』。夫を愛する妻が失われた夫の愛を取り戻そうとしてしたことが、逆に夫を殺す破目となり、自らも生命を絶つ『トラキスの女たち』。外見幸福にして偉大な王者が、真実には知らずして父の殺害者、母の夫となっていたことを、自らの意志の力で暴いて破滅した『オイディプス王』。殺された父のための復讐(ふくしゅう)の念だけで生きており、帰国した弟と協力して報復を成し遂げる『エレクトラ』。孤島に置き去りにされ、病気に苦しみながらも孤高の精神の保持者たる主人公を中心に、正義の士と陰謀家を対照させて三者のやりとりのなかで人間性を豊かに描く『ピロクテテス』。そして、死の直前に創作した『コロノスのオイディプス』（死後上演）では、苦悩の極まるところを体験した老主人公が長い放浪のすえ、アテネのはずれのコロノスの聖域にたどり着き、彼のなかに充満している愛情や感謝や憎悪や呪咀(じゅそ)を吐露したのち、この罪なくして穢(けが)れに染まった人間が、不思議にも神との和解のもとで安らかに逝く。

　ソフォクレスは罪なき者の苦悩を容赦なく描く。苦悩や死は人間存在の実相であり、不可避的なものである。劇主人公は決定的状況に面して勇気をもって対決し、妥協せず、屈辱の生よりも死や破滅を選ぶ。この強固にして高貴なる人間が苦悩しぬくところに悲劇的美なり悲劇的崇高性が輝く。劇の筋は神話どおりであり、観衆は事態も結末も知っている。劇中人物が知らずして語ることばや行為と、真実を知る観衆との対照が大きな劇的効果をあげ、悲劇的な緊迫感を盛り上げるこの手法がソフォクレス的ないし悲劇的アイロニーといわれる。

［竹部琳昌］

『呉茂一・松平千秋他訳『ギリシア悲劇全集Ⅱ　ソポクレス篇』（1960・人文書院）』

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