The play opens with the agon of Apollo and 'Death' (Atropos, maybe, or Thanatos?), regarding how Lachesis had allotted a specific amount of time to Admetus, monarch of Pherae, but Apollo, in recompense for kindness shown to him during his own punishment, persuaded Hades to permit Admetus "to escape the moment of his death / by giving the lower powers someone else to die" (ll. 13-14). The text acknowledges that this practice sets up a fungibility of persons that, assuming normal market mechanisms, will "favor the rich" (l. 57) insofar as "Those who could afford to buy a late death" (l. 59) may escape the allotment of Lachesis.

Alcestis agrees to become her husband's representative when Atropos arrives to collect the life that is owed, for which the chorus of Pheraean citizens very predictably finds that "as she dies, there dies / the noblest woman underneath the sun" (ll. 150-51), with which we should compare the choral responses to Medea and Phaedre on the one hand (i.e., dismissal as monstrous) and Jocasta and Macaria on the other. For her part, Alcestis does not sell her life dearly, asking only

in recompense,
what I shall ask you--not enough, oh never enough,
since nothing is enough to make up for a life,
but fair, and you yourself will say so, since you love
these children as much as I do; or at least you should.
Keep them as masters in my house, and do not marry
again and give our children to a stepmother. (ll. 299-305)

Admetus is a jerk about all of it, blaming his parents for her death because they very reasonably decline to represent him and thereby become his apotropaic contra Atropos--and then having buyer's remorse--and then proclaiming a year's public mourning, inclusive of "there shall be no sound of flutes within the city, / and no sound of lyre" (ll. 430-31).

Meanwhile, Heracles shows up in town, on the way to Thrace for his 8th labor, the anthropophagic mares of Diomedes, for whom humans are equally fungible, as it happens, as they are for Atropos (or for Admetus, if we get down to it). Because he is friends with Admetus, he takes it upon himself to wrestle Atropos ("Beside the tomb itself. I sprang and caught him in my hands" (ll. 1141-42)), and recover Alcestis. Yay, stunningly silly eucatastrophe!

Euripides'in bu tiyatrosunda ölümün çepeçevre sarmaladığı bir kralın kendi yaşamına karşı yaptığı bir pazarlık ve bundan duyduğu suçlulukla birleşen bir hikaye anlatılıyor. Ancak hikayenin yüzeyini kazdığınızda yaşamın ve ölümün anlamı, her şeyin kısalığı, zaman, mekan ve hatta misafirperverlik gibi sayısız konunun felsefi olarak sorguya açıldığı görülüyor. Okurken sürekli "acaba ne olacak" dediğim bu tiyatroda, final bölümünde giderek artan gizem ve merak "acaba sahnede izlesem nasıl olurdu" düşüncesini uyandırmıyor değil.

Bu yılki hedeflerimden birisi olan okumadığım antik Yunan ve Shakespeare tiyatrolarını bitirme planım dahilinde okuduğum ilk kitap oldu. Devamı gelecek.

Death and Resurrection in Ancient Greece
9 April 2012

tI can now understand why they call this a problem play: for most of the play it is a tragedy but suddenly, at the end, everything turns out all right. One commentary I have read on this raises the question of whether it is a masterpiece or a train wreck. What we need to remember though is that this would have been one of the seven plays of Euripides that were selected to be preserved (and I say this because unlike the other two classic playwrights, he have a whole volume of Euripidean plays that came down to us along with the seven masterpieces).

tHowever it is the myth sitting behind this play that we need to consider, and it seems that Euripides actually added nothing to the myth, and the resurrection of Alcestis at the conclusion of the play is something that existed in the original myth. The story was that Alcestis was an incredibly beautiful woman (surprise, surprise) and her father held a contest to see who would be the most worthy suitor - Admentus won the contest. With regards to Admentus, he had helped Apollo by taking care of the god after he had been kicked out of Olympus, and Apollo rewarded Admentus by helping him complete the task to win over Alcestis' father.

tHowever, after the marriage, Admentus did not make the required sacrifice and was to die, but once again Apollo intervened and saved his life by making the furies drunk. The catch was that somebody had to die in Admentus' place. This is a little different than what I gathered from the play, and that was that for helping Apollo, Admentus was given the gift of a longer life, but there was a sting in the tail, and that was that somebody else had to willing give up their life. Admentus' parents basically told him to bugger off, but Alcestis, his wife, stepped in as the sacrifice, much to Ademntus' horror.

tThe play begins with Alcestis dying, and this happens pretty quickly. However, while Admentus and his household is in mourning, Heracles rocks up on his way to Thrace to complete one of his tasks. Now, hospitality is very, very important to the Greeks, and despite his mourning, Heracles is welcomed into the house and given guest quarters, however he is not told what is happening. Heracles finds out after speaking to a servant, and in appreciation for Admentus opening up his house, he goes and defeats death and brings Alcestis back to life.

tNow, here is another instance of resurrection in Greek mythology. Here we have Heracles defeating death to bring someone back to life, however this differs from Christian mythology in that a second person steps in to overturn death, even though he is the son of Zeus. This is more like Jesus bringing Lazerus back to life as opposed to Christ returning from the dead. However we do see glimpses here of the concept of the son of God defeating death.

tAdmentus is truly a tragic character, probably one of the most tragic of the Greek heroes that I have read, though I note that it is Euripides that seems to use this the best. However, it does not end badly for Admentus, and his tragic flaw: his desire for a long life; does not truly bite him. In a way it causes division within his family, such as with the death of Alcestis and the fact that he drives away his father. Admentus is a truly selfish individual - what right does he have demanding the life of his father-in-law so that he might live longer. It does not work like that, and it seems that Euripides is in agreement.

tThis play is about death, pure and simple, and how death destroys relationships. We also get a glimpse into the mind of Admentus, as he mourns over the death of his wife. We see that despite his longer life it is no longer a life worth living and in fact he no longer wants to spend any time where he will be reminded of Alcestis' sacrifice. I guess the main reason he mourns so hard is not the futility and meaninglessness of death (as some Christians might suggest) but rather because the death came about through his own selfish desire to live longer.

tYet he does not learn from this, and in fact he is rewarded for his selfishness. Okay, it is clear that the reward comes not from his own failings as a human being, but rather because despite his grief and mourning (though I doubt a psychologist would suggest that this is the natural grief process) he still fulfilled his duty towards his guest. Also, despite his lying to Heracles, Heracles still saw fit to reward him for his hospitality. Still, those last five pages where Alcestis returns from the dead, despite her no longer having a voice in the play, just does not seem to sit right.

Thou drawest breath even now, long past thy portioned hour of death. By murdering her... And blamest my faint heart, coward, who hast let a woman play thy part and die to save her pretty soldier.

Life is not life, but just unhappiness.

This he who lives in shame because he dared not die! He gave instead the woman whom he loved, and so is fled from death. He counts himself a man withal! And seeing his parents died not at his call he hates them, when himself he dared not die.

Thy fate I praise not. Yet, what gift soe'er God giveth, man must steel himself and bear.

“…com efeito, as almas nobres cumprem seu dever vencendo todas e quaisquer barreiras.
Os sentimentos bons são o apanágio dos homens dotados de sapiência.
Somos admiradores incontidos dos mortais realmente generosos e temos a mais firme convicção de que eles afinal serão felizes.”

Apolo conseguiu convencer as Parcas (divindades que controlam o destino) que Ádmeto rei da Tessália se livrasse da morte no dia marcado pelo destino desde que alguém estivesse disposto a morrer em seu lugar. Alceste sua esposa foi a única que se dispôs a se sacrificar por ele. Em meio a tristeza da morte da esposa Ádmeto recebe o herói Héracles como seu hóspede sem contar a ele o acontecido. Quando descobre, Héracles resgata Alceste da Morte e a traz de volta ao palácio.

Ágil y ligero. El mensaje es sencillo y directo, trata sobre el sacrificio, amor y la hipocresía, además de la cobardía.

Es mi primera incursión en las tragedias griegas, muy interesante y recomendable.

Lo único que supo hacer bien Admeto es darle hospitalidad a Heracles. De ahí en fuera no hace más que lamentarse y quejarse con su papá de porqué no murió por él. Alcestis lo tuvo que querer demasiado para sacrificarse por semejante hombre.
No obstante, los diálogos de Feres y Heracles son los que dan vida a esta obra llena de tantos dilemas y una ligera ironía en la trama. Esta obra termina siendo más una sátira que una tragedia.

Mmm... posso dire che mi aspettavo di meglio da una tragedia tanto famosa?
Speravo che lo spazio dedicato ad Alcesti fosse maggiore, ma in realtà ho trovato gli scambi tra personaggi piuttosto piatti, eccezion fatta per il dialogo di Admeto con il padre e la conclusione con Eracle.

Read as a result of reading The Silent Patient and a recent interest in ancient greek literature.
Something that was a quick read but one that requires thinking about and going back for an anticipated re reread perhaps next year.

Last night, on our first evening of the Adelaide Fringe, we saw a fine production of Alcestis by the Scrambled Prince Theatre Company. It was most enjoyable, but I'm afraid that on returning home I immediately went and looked up an online translation. Could it really be the case that the dialogue between Death and Apollo in the second scene consisted mostly of off-colour BDSM jokes?

You will probably not be astonished to hear that the answer is no. I hang my head in shame. That I, of all people, should have been fooled so easily!

Ladies, if he asks you to die for him in his place, it's time to pack it up.

This was such a phenomenal, fantastic read!
I might be a bit biased because I'm a big fan of the Classics and especially Euripides' plays, but I'm convinced that everyone would find think that this one is incredible!

To let you decide for yourself I'm not going to write a raving review, I'm just going to leave you with one of my favourite pieces of this play:

Death:
"What you call death
Is simply my natural power,
The pull of my gravity. And life
Is a brief weightlessness - an aberration
From the status quo - which is me."

I'd recommend this to absolutely anyone no matter what they like, because as I said, I'm convinced that this is a great book for anyone!

Happy reading!