Sophocles was a handsome youth, and acquitted himself well in the palæstra. When he was sixteen years of age the great battle of Salamis was fought and won by the Greeks. In the celebration of this victory at Athens, Sophocles led with dance and lyre the chorus of young men who sang the pæan or hymn of victory. That such an honor should be given him shows how graceful and gifted he must have been. The beginning of his literary career came when he was in his twenty-fifth year. At that time a solemn festival was held in Athens in memory of the ancient King Theseus, whose bones had been brought thither from the island of Scyros. Now all religious festivals in Greece were celebrated with contests, some athletic, others artistic and literary. On this occasion there was a contest of dramatic poets. Æschylus was at that time the greatest of living tragedians, and as he was among the contestants, it might have been supposed that no other candidate could have succeeded. Sophocles now came forward with his first tragedy, and so remarkable was it found to be that the judges pronounced him victor. From this time forth Sophocles continually grew in dramatic and literary power. Twenty times he obtained the first prize in other contests, and many times also the second prize. The amount of his work was prodigious. Most of his dramas are lost, but we still have a half dozen or more to show us the noble quality of his work. The finest are perhaps those called Œdipus Tyrannus, Œdipus Coloneus, and Antigone, all dealing with the tragic fate of an ancient royal family. Athens was justly proud of her great poet and bestowed various honors upon him. He was even made a general, and served in the war against Samos; but nature had made him a poet, and it is as a poet that we must always think of him. Full of years and honors, he died in Athens at the age of ninety. Of him the Greek poet Phrynicus wrote,-- "Thrice happy Sophocles! in good old age Blessed as a man, and as a craftsman blessed, He died: his many tragedies were fair, And fair his end, nor knew he any sorrow." Our portrait shows admirably what manner of man he was, handsome and dignified, in the prime of life. [Illustration: D. Anderson, Photo. John Andrew & Son, Sc. SOPHOCLES _Lateran Museum, Rome_]