View source for Tragedies of Sophocles

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''The Tragedies of Sophocles''}}
===by Sophocles===

{{BookPageInfoBox
|imagename=SophoclesTragediesOfSophocles1758v2.jpg
|link=https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991017500359703196
|shorttitle=The Tragedies of Sophocles
|vol=volume two
|author=[[:Category:Sophocles|Sophocles]]
|trans=Thomas Francklin
|publoc=[[:Category:London|London]]
|publisher=Printed for R. Francklin
|year=1758-1759
|lang=[[:Category:English|English]]
|set=2 volumes in 1
|desc=[[:Category:Quartos|4to]] (28 cm.)
|shelf=I-4
}}[[wikipedia:Sophocles|Sophocles]] (c. 496 &ndash; c.406 BCE), born at Colonus to a wealthy manufacturing family, became one of the great Athenian tragedians.<ref>[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-2775 "So'phoclēs"] in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'', ed. by M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).</ref> Though an anonymous biography of him exists, little information can be trusted due to lack of verification. Sophocles stayed away from politics, though he was twice elected a general with the Athenian ruler Pericles (c. 441/40 BCE), and "is said to have refused invitations to visit the courts of kings (unlike Aeschylus and Euripides)."<ref>Ibid.</ref> Sophocles was known as a good tempered man, who just months before his own death, had his chorus and actors perform in mourning garb in honor of the recently deceased Euripides.<ref>Ibid.</ref>

[[File:SophoclesTragediesOfSophocles1758Frontispiece.jpg|left|thumb|250px|<center>Frontispiece, volume one.</center>]]
Only seven of Sophocles' tragedies are extant: ''Philoctetes'', ''Ajax'', ''Electra'', ''Trachiniae'' (''Women of Trachis''), and the Oedipal Trilogy (also known as the Oedipal Cycle) consisting of ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (''Oedipus the King''), ''Oedipus at Colonus'', and ''Antigone''.<ref>[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001/acref-9780192801463-e-2067 "Sophoclēs"] in ''Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World'', ed. by John Roberts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).</ref>

The ''Tragedies of Sophocles'' combines two volumes into one. It was translated from the original Ancient Greek into English by Thomas Francklin, a fellow of Trinity College and a Greek professor at the University of Cambridge. The works included are ''Ajax'', ''Electra'', ''Philoctetes'', and the Oedipal Cycle: ''Antigone'', ''Oedipus Tyrannus'', and ''Oedipus Coloneus'' (''Oedipus at Colonus'').

==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as "Francklin's Sophocles. 2.v. in 1. 4to." This was one of the books kept by [[Thomas Jefferson]]. He later sold a copy to the Library of Congress in 1815, but it no longer exists to verify the edition or Wythe's prior ownership.<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'' (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 4:528 [[http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015033648125;view=1up;seq=548 no.4523]].</ref> The [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref> Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433</ref> and [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s. v. [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe "Member: George Wythe"], accessed February 27, 2014.</ref> on LibraryThing include the first edition (1758-1759) based on E. Millicent Sowerby's inclusion of that edition in ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson''. The Wolf Law Library purchased a copy of the same edition.

==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
[[File:SophoclesTragediesOfSophocles1758Illustration.jpg|left|thumb|250px|<center>Illustration, volume one.</center>]]
Rebound in full reddish-brown leather with bright gold title on the spine. Purchased from Pleasant Street Books. 

Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/sets/72157660413877950 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991017500359703196 William & Mary's online catalog].

==See also==
<div style="overflow: hidden;">
*[[George Wythe Room]]
*[[Jefferson Inventory]]
*[[Wythe's Library]]
</div>

==References==
<div style="overflow: hidden;">
<references/>
</div>

==External Links==
*Read volume one of this book in [https://books.google.com/books?id=GchCAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover Google Books.]
*Read volume two of this book in [https://books.google.com/books?id=GchCAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA1 Google Books.]

__NOTOC__
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
[[Category:Greek Literature]]
[[Category:Jefferson's Books]]
[[Category:Sophocles]]
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]
[[Category:English]]
[[Category:London]]
[[Category:Quartos]]