本文探討拉康對索福克里斯《安提歌妮》的解讀。這段有名的解讀出現在講座《精神分析的倫理》，其文字隱晦曖昧多於清晰明確。本文想做的就是要釐清三個主要議題：拉康對黑格爾的舊解有何質疑、拉康為何特別突顯安提歌妮的「美」或「奇特形象」、拉康如何強調滌淨離不開與觀眾的關係。這三個議題呈現為與三位重要哲學家的對話：首先是黑格爾的主奴關係，其次是康德的美學，最後是亞里斯多德的《詩學》。就第一個議題來說，本文指出「欲望」與「律法」形成對比，認為安提歌妮的欲望與她對任何普遍原則和律法的堅持都沒有關係。就第二個議題來說，本文指出拉康檢討康德對「美」的處理，目的是要呈現其中含有與想像層的決裂。這裡拉康首次提出明確的「視線」觀念，強調其美學功能是悲劇的一部份，這是後來相關理論的先聲。就第三個議題來說，本文主張拉康是從蕩力、感受的觀點來探討亞里斯多德的滌淨說，顯示這兩者在當時已經是拉康關心的重點。另外，本文特別論及安提歌妮埋葬其兄的行動（以欲望為依歸）與劇場觀眾的感動密切相關，並據此對「精神分析政治」有所申論。

This article explores the famous reading of Sophocles’ Antigone that Lacan produced in his seminar The Ethics of Psychoanalysis. Lacan’s account is more obscure and suggestive than clear and expository, and this article attempts to clarify three main issues: Lacan’s disagreement with Hegel’s reading of the play, his focus on the “beauty” or “striking image” of Antigone, and his emphasis on catharsis in relation to the audience. Each of these issues is developed as a dialogue with a major philosopher: first, Hegel’s master-slave relation, second, Kant’s esthetics, and third, Aristotle’s Poetics. The first issue is developed as a contrast between “desire” and “law,” whereby Antigone’s desire is distinguished from her assertion of any general principle or law. The second issue is developed through Lacan’s treatment of the “beautiful” in Kant, which Lacan presents as a rupture with the imaginary, and as a first formulation of his later conception of the “gaze,” with particular emphasis on its esthetic function in tragedy. The third issue is developed as a relation between Aristotle’s account of catharsis and Lacan’s emerging concern with the problems of jouissance and affect. The article also elaborates the “politics of psychoanalysis,” by exploring the relation between Antigone’s burial of her brother (based on her desire), and the effect of her action on the audience in the theater.