Quote by Sophocles: “Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man.”

At the height of Greek civilization, Sophocles looked at what humans had built — cities, language, ships, agriculture, law — and declared that no natural phenomenon was more astonishing than the species capable of creating all of it. It is one of the earliest celebrations of human ingenuity in world literature.

This line comes from the chorus of Antigone, performed at the City Dionysia in Athens around 441 BCE. Athens was at the height of its golden age under Pericles, with the Parthenon under construction and Athenian democracy and culture flourishing. The choral ode celebrates human capability while the play simultaneously shows its catastrophic limits.

Ancient Greek tragedian whose surviving plays, including Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Electra, are foundational works of Western drama. He is credited with adding a third actor to the stage and deepening psychological complexity in dramatic character.