Alcestis (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Euripides
- First Published: 438
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Tragicomedy
- Time of Work: Remote antiquity
- Setting: Pherae, in ancient Greece
- Genres: Drama, Tragedy
- Subjects: Death or dying, Gods or goddesses, Fate or fatalism, Heroes or heroism, Greek or Roman times, Sacrifice, Greece or Greek people
- Locales: Greece, ancient, Pherae
Characters Discussed
Admetus (ad-MEE-tus), of Pherae, the king of Thessaly. Because of his fair and friendly treatment of Apollo, placed at Admetus’ mercy for punishment by Zeus, Admetus has been allowed to escape the appointed hour of his death if someone else will die in his place. His wife Alcestis has given her pledge to die for him, and the play opens on the day of her death. Admetus sincerely loves his wife, but he lacks the courage to die as he should instead of letting his wife die for him. Admetus is weak but is not a coward, and because he realizes his own baseness...
[The entire page is 946 words long]
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See Also:
Euripides (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Euripides (Drama)Euripides (Encyclopedia of the Ancient World)
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