An examination of Sophocles’ Antigone in the context of its setting in 5th-century Athens. The authors attempt to create an interpretive environment that is true to the issues and interests of 5th-century Athenians, as opposed to those of modern scholars and philosophers. As they contextualize the play in the dynamics of ancient Athens, the authors discuss the text of Antigone in light of developments in the study of Greek antiquity and tragedy, and they turn to modern Greek rituals of lamentation to suggest analogies.