since Hermann's have been those of Schneidewin, G. Wolff and Wecklein. L. Campbell's edition of the plays and fragments (1871-1881) was quickly followed by Jebb's edition of the seven plays (1881-1896). Editions of one or more dramas most worth consulting are Elmsley's Oedipus Tyrannus and Oedipus Coloneus, Böckh's Antigone, Lobeck's Ajax, J. W. Donaldson's Antigone, O. Jahn's Electra and J. William White's Oed. Tyr. A monograph on the Antigone by Kaibel is also well worth mentioning. Translations: in verse, by Francklin, Potter, Dale, Plumptre, L. Campbell, Whitelaw; in prose by R. C. Jebb. The chief German translations are those of Solger (1824), Donner (1839), Hartung (1853) and Thudichum. The French prose translation by Leconte de Lisle, and the Italian in verse by Bellotti deserve special mention. The Antigone was produced at Berlin with Mendelssohn's music in 1841 and the Oedipus Coloneus in 1845. They have been reproduced in English several times—the Antigone notably with Helen Faucit (Lady Martin) in the title-rôle in 1845. The Oedipe Roi (trans. La Croix) and the Antigone (trans. Vacquerie) have been frequently performed in Paris. A performance of the Oedipus Tyrannus in Greek at Harvard University, U.S.A. (1880), was remarkably successful. Of dissertations immediately devoted to Sophocles those of Lessing, Patin, Dronke and Evelyn Abbott (in Hellenica) are especially noteworthy. (L. C.)
SOPHOMORE, the name in American universities (corresponding to "sophister" at Cambridge, England, and Trinity College, Dublin) for a student who has completed his first year of academic studies. It is a corruption of the earlier "sophimore," due to a supposed derivation from σοφός, wise, and μῶρος, foolish, alluding to the air of wisdom assumed by students after their freshman's year was concluded. The earlier word "sophomore" (cf. "Laws of Yale Coll., 1774," in Hall's College Words) represents "sophismer," a doublet of "sophister," and means an arguer or debater (cf. the Cambridge use of "wrangler"), and is formed from the Greek σόφισμα, sophism, an ingenious or captious argument.
SOPHRON, of Syracuse, writer of mimes, flourished about 430 B.C. He was the author of prose dialogues in the Doric dialect, containing both male and female characters, some serious, others humorous in style, and depicting scenes from the daily life of the Sicilian Greeks. Although in prose, they were regarded as poems; in any case they were not intended for stage representation. They were written in pithy and popular language, full of proverbs and colloquialisms. Plato is said to have introduced them into Athens and to have made use of them in his dialogues; according to Suïdas, they were Plato's constant companions, and he even slept with them under his pillow. Some idea of their general character may be gathered from the 2nd and 15th idylls of Theocritus, which are said to have been imitated from the, Ἀκέστριαι and Ἰσθμιάζουσαι of his Syracusan predecessor. Their influence is also to be traced in the satires of Persius. The fragments will be found in H. L. Ahrens's De graecae linguae dialectis (1843), ii. (app.). Latest edition by C. J. Botzon (1867); see also his De Sophrone et Xenarcho mimographis (1856).
SOPHRONIUS, Greek "sophist" and theological writer, was born at Damascus. For many years he was a monk in the monastery of Theodosius, near Jerusalem, removed to Alexandria, whence he was driven out by the advance of the Persians, and finally settled in Palestine, where he became (634) successor of Modestus in the patriarchate of Jerusalem. After his elevation he showed himself a staunch supporter of orthodox principles and one of the most determined opponents of the Monothelites. In 636, when Jerusalem surrendered to the Arabs under Omar, he succeeded in obtaining important concessions for the Christians in the exercise of their worship. He did not long survive the capture of the city, and after his death the see remained unfilled for 29 years. Sophronius was a prolific writer, both in prose and verse, in various departments of literature. His chief work is a long account of the Egyptian saints and martyrs Cyrus and John, and of the miraculous cures effected by them, valuable for its information concerning the topography of Egypt. The Life of Mary of Egypt, who abandoned immorality for a life of the strictest penance in Palestine for 48 years, is generally attributed to him. He was also the author of anacreontic odes, hymns, and epigrams.
Works in J. P. Migne, Patrologia graeca, lxxxvii., and list in Fabricius, Bibliotheca graeca, ix. 162; see also L. de St Aignan, Vie de Sophronius (Orleans, 1884); C. Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur (1897); and for Sophronius and Omar, Gibbon, ch. 51.
SOPRANO (a variant of Ital. sovrano, supreme, sovereign, Late Lat. superanus, from super, above), the term applied in music to the highest natural range of the human voice, and often restricted to that range in the female voice, "treble" being used of a boy's voice. Male soprani, either natural or artificially produced, as formerly in the castrati of the papal choirs (see Eunuch), are also found. The female voice whose range is intermediate between that of a soprano or a contralto is termed "mezzo-soprano."
SOPRON (Ger. Oedenburg; Med. Lat. Sopronium), a town of Hungary, capital of the county of the same name, 140 m. W. of Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900), 30,628, about 60% Germans. It lies in an extensive valley enclosed on all sides by the outskirts of the Rosalien mountains, a group belonging to the eastern outliers of the Alps. In the principal square are the Benedictine church, built at the end of the 13th century and restored in the 15th century, and the town hall, completed in 1894. The Dominican church, built in 1674; the church of St Michael, in the Gothic style, completed in 1484, the most interesting church in the town; and the old tower, 200 ft. high, are all worth notice. Sopron has a thriving industry in sugar, soap, vinegar, bell-founding and machinery, and it carries on an active trade in cereals, fruit and wine. Large cattle markets are also held here. Within the county a good quality of wine is produced, especially near the little town of Ruszt (pop. 1608) and at the village of Balf (Ger., Wolfs) on the shores of the Neusiedler lake. In the neighbourhood of Sopron is the Brennberg, with extensive coal-mines. Sopron was a Roman colony under the name of Scarabantia. It was afterwards occupied by German settlers and became a royal free town in the 11th century. Matthias Corvinus granted the town special privileges in 1464. An important Diet of Hungarian Protestants took place here in 1681.
About 12 m. north, at the foot of the Leitha mountains, lies the town of Kismarton (Ger. Eisenstadt; pop., 2951), which contains a magnificent castle of the Esterhazy family, built in 1683 and enlarged in 1805. About 10 m. north-west lies Nagymarton (Ger. Mattersdorf; pop., 3789); and not far from it, on the frontier of Austria, the well-preserved castle of Forchtenstein, the cradle of the Esterhazy family. About 12 m. east, not far from the Neusiedler lake, lies Esterhaza, with a beautiful castle in the French Renaissance style, belonging to Count Esterhazy. About 9 m. south-east lies the village of Nagyczenk (Ger. Zinkendorff), with the castle of the Szechenyi family.
SORA, a city of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta, 77 m. N. by W. of that town on the railway between Roccasecca and Avezzano, 920 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901), 6,050 (town); 16,022 (commune). It is built in a plain on the banks of the Liris. This part of the valley is the seat of some important manufactures, especially of paper-mills. The original cathedral, consecrated by Pope Adrian IV. in 1155, was destroyed by the earthquake of 1634. On the precipitous rock above the town (1768 ft.) which guards the Liris valley and the entrance to the Abruzzi are remains of polygonal walls; here, possibly, was the citadel of the original Volscian town. There are also remains of medieval fortifications. In the town itself there are no remains of antiquity nor buildings of interest. The district around Sora is famous for the costumes of its peasants.
Sora, an ancient Volscian town, was thrice captured by the Romans, in 345, 314 and 305 B.C., before they managed, in 303, by means of a colony 4000 strong, to confirm its annexation. In 209 it was one of the colonies which refused further \contributions to the war against Hannibal. By the lex Julia it became a municipium, but under Augustus it was colonized by soldiers of the legio IV. Sorana, which had been mainly enrolled there. It belonged technically to Latium Adjectum. The castle of Sorella, built on the rocky height above the town,
