When and where did Sophocles live and die?

lived about
2500 years before the present.  He was born around 496 BC in Athens or, more precisely, in a
suburb of Athens.  At any rate, he was an Athenian.  Our first historical knowledge of Sophocles
comes in 468 BC.  At that point, some of his plays won the first prize in a contest for best
drama.  Sophocles was to win that prize more than 20 times in his career as a playwright. 
Besides being a playwright, he served as a government official.  He died in Athens in 406 BC. 
His last known play was staged by his grandson in 401.