Sophocles (497/6-406 BC), considered one of the world's greatest poets, forged tragedy from the heroic excess of myth and legend. Seven complete plays are extant, including Oedipus Tyrannus, Ajax, Antigone, and Philoctetes. Among many fragments that also survive is a substantial portion of the satyr play The Searchers.

The third volume of Jebb's edition of the fragments of Sophocles, completed after his death by Headlam and Pearson and published in 1917, contains addenda and corrigenda, fragments of uncertain plays, doubtful and spurious fragments, and two indices.

The series publishes important new editions of and commentaries on texts from Greco-Roman antiquity, especially annotated editions of texts surviving only in fragments. Due to its programmatically wide range the series provides an essential basis for the study of ancient literature.

The first volume of Jebb's edition of the fragments of Sophocles, completed after his death by Headlam and Pearson and published in 1917, contains a general introduction and the text of the fragments from 'Athamas' to 'Ichneutae', presented in Greek alphabetical order, together with a commentary.