Athens held a dramatic competition every year, at the Festival of Dionysus. At this time, three playwrights would each present a tetralogy—four tragedies as well as a “satyr play,” a kind of short, rough comedy—on three successive days. At the end of the festival, ten judges would award first, second, and third prizes for the best drama. The prize itself is not known, although it was probably money and a symbol of some sort; but the true glory of winning first place was the approval of the Athenian public.
Sophocles won first prize at the Festival of Dionysus 18 times, frequently over such competitors as Aeschylus and Euripides. Some of Sophocles’ plays won second prize—Oedipus the King, for example—but none ever came in third. Year after year, Sophocles’ tragedies gained recognition as among the best dramas written at a time when competition was at its highest.
Perhaps Sophocles’ greatest achievement is his enduring popularity as a dramatist. The fact that his works are studied today, approximately 2,400 years after they were written, is a testament to the power of his words and the impact those stories have on current culture.
