Page:History of the Literature of Ancient Greece (Müller) 2ed.djvu/360

338 338 HISTORY OF THE nities, anointed with oil, and holding a lyre in his left hand. Tii^ managers of the feast had selected him for this purpose on account of his youthful beauty* and the musical education which he had received. Eleven or twelve years after this, in Olymp. 77. 4. B.c.f 468, Sopho- cles came forward for the first time as a competitor in a dramatic con- test, and, indeed, as a rival of the old hero iEschylus. This happened at the great Dionysia, when the first Archon presided ; it was his duty to nominate the judges of the contest. Cimon, who had just conquered the pirates of Scyros, and brought back to Athens the bones of Theseus, happened to come into the theatre along with his colleagues in order to pay the suitable offerings to Bacchus, and Aphepsion the archon thought it due to the importance of the contest to submit the decision of the poetical victory to these glorious victors in real battle. Cimon, a man of the old school, and of noble moderation of character, who undoubtedly appreciated .ZEschylus, gave the prize to his young rival, from which we may infer how completely his genius outshone all com- petition, even at his first coming out. The play with which he gained this victory is said to have been the Triptolemus,J a patriotic piece, in which this Eleusinian hero was celebrated as promoting the cultivation of corn, and humanizing the manners even of the wildest barbarians. § 2. The first piece of Sophocles which has been preserved is twenty- eight years subsequent to this event ; it is remarkable as also marking* a giorious period in the poet's life. Sophocles brought out the Anti- gone in Olymp. 84. 4. B.C. 440. The goodness of the play, but above all the shrewd reflexions and admirable sentiments on public matters which are frequency expressed in it, induced the Athenians to elect him to the office of general for the ensuing year. It must be re- membered that the ten Strategi were not merely the commanders of the troops, but also very much employed in the administration of affairs at home, and in carrying on negociations with foreign states. Sophocles was one of the generals, who, in conjunction with Pericles, carried on the war with the aristocrats of Samos, who, after being expelled from Samo^ by the Athenians, had returned from Anaea on the continent with Persian aid, and stirred up the island to revolt against Athens. § This war was carried on in Olymp. 85. 1. b.c. 440, 439. y.aXh rr,ii uoai, which applies best to the age assigned to him above. T All new dramas at Athens were performed at the Lensea and the great Dio- nysia, the former of which took place in the month Gamelion, the latter in Elaphe bolion, and therefore in the second hnlf of the Attic or Olympian year, after the wintir solstice ; consequently, in the history of the drama we. must always reckon the year of the Olympiad equal to the year b.c. in which its second half falls. I This appears from a combination of the narrative in the text with a chrono- logical statement in Pliny TV. H. XVIII. 12. § On this account the Vita Sophoclis calls the war, in the management of which
 * Athenseus I. p. 20. f.. in speaking of this occasion, says that Sophocles was