#alcestis play

One of the interesting things about Alcestis is Heracles' characterization.

When he finds out Admetus is mourning, the first person he thinks of is that it's one of his children.

"God keep your children free from harm!" - Line 514

He doesn't immediately jump to politics or reputation, but thinks of family first.

He's Heracles the warrior, yet for a moment, Heracles the father slips out.

He's a family man, and those who know how deeply family shaped him. Whether Euripides intended the audience to make that connection or not, it's hard not to see a tragic irony there.

This Heracles is cheerful, boisterous, and as the Attendant complains, is fond of food and drinks, but he's also deeply loyal to his friends. The moment he realizes Admetus lied to spare him discomfort, his attitude changed to:

"I'm sure I'll bring Alcestis up here and put her in my host's arms. He welcomed me into his house, when he was struck with great misfortune. He didn't drive me away. He nobly hid his grief, out of respect for me. What Thessalian, what Greek honors the role of host more than he? And so this noble man won't have to say the man he treated was bad." - Line 855-860

He wasn't ordered to do this, and it has nothing to do with glory or his Labors. But rather, he does it because his friend showed him kindness while suffering.

There's a complication, though. In Euripides' Heracles, the murder of his wife and children happens after the Labors, whereas Alcestis takes place during them. So this Heracles hasn't yet experienced that tragedy.

But that doesn't have to contradict with this.

Euripides portrays Heracles as deeply human. He's strong enough to wrestle Death itself, but he eats and drinks too much, makes social blunders, apologizes when he's wrong, and cares fiercely for his friends and family.

He's not a distant ideal hero.

But dare I say, a big-hearted man who sometimes acts before he thinks.

And seeing his concern and actions during this play hurts, knowing what will one day befall him.

I just finished reading Euripides' Alcestis, and it struck me how the play relentlessly interrogates its own premise.

At first glance, it sounds like a fairy tale: a wife willingly dies for her husband, and then a hero rescues her from death. But Euripides never lets the audience take comfort in that.

Admetus isn't portrayed as a villain. His love and grief for Alcestis was real, but he still accepted a bargain that required someone else to die in his stead, and he didn't stop Alcestis from volunteering.

When Admetus disowned his father, Pheres, for not dying for him, the latter confronts him with:

"You fought without shame not to die  and killed her to live past the time  allotted you. And yet you say that *I'm*  a coward? You, a wretch bested by a woman?  You, the brave young man she died to save?  …  And still, though you're a coward,  you blame your kin who aren't willing to die?  Stop and think: if you love your life,  everyone else does, too."  - Line 693-704 

Admetus wants to be the loving husband while avoiding what it cost him to stay alive, but it catches up with him.

Pheres is right. He can't claim the moral high ground when he made the same choice he parents did: choosing his own life.

The Chorus, while gentler, makes the same point:

But you spared your body; you saved your life. Your wife died and left behind your love. - Line 929-930

Even Admetus eventually feels the full weight of his actions.

And someone, an enemy, will say: "Look at him! He lives in shame! He couldn't stomach dying, so, to escape it, the coward gave Hades his wife instead. After that he pretends to be a man? he hates his parents, though he himself was unwilling to die." That's the "fame" I'll have, to add to my woes. So how can life profit me?" -Line 953-960

Society, including future generations, will not think first of his love for Alcestis. Just a spineless coward who let his wife die in his place.

It’s ironic that he feared what society would think of him if he rejected Heracles, as if being a bad host was somehow worse than a bad husband.

Thankfully, he woke up from that.

But then, Heracles returns with Alcestis.

There's a symbolism of Alcestis not being able to speak at the end. After all the arguments about her sacrifice, after all the grief, after all the guilt, the person whose opinion matters most says nothing. 

Yes, she did so willingly, but did it come from love, or out of a pressured obligation, as his wife, to do what his own parents would not?

Was love enough?