Abstract
This paper investigates the immense expressions of grief portrayed by female characters in Greek Tragedy and how those expressions were seen as disruptions to the social order of Greece. By examining Euripides’ Medea and Sophocles’ Antigone, we can identify the danger public grief had on civic order and how we can stage these plays for a contemporary audience. I will do this through two main modes: the first will be a literary analysis of each play identifying how female grief becomes a danger to social norms, and the second is a dramaturgical analysis examining contemporary productions of these plays and how they showcase the effect of female grief through the costume design, the body language of the characters, and the representation of the chorus. Through this, I will be able to identify how the practice of grief was seen in an ancient Greek context and how we can bring those themes to a contemporary stage.