Alcestis Euripides PDF

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Summary of Alcestis by Euripides...

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Alcestis (Euripides) Journal Prompt Alcestis the play was the fourth in its tetralogy of four plays written for the City Dionysia of 438. It held the place, in other words, of a satyr drama. But is it a satyr drama? Well, technically, no: no chorus of satyrs, no Papposilenus, and so on. So what is it? Some scholars have chosen to call it "prosatyric," meaning "holding the place of a satyr play." Other scholars simply label it a tragedy and have done with that. Still others stand there and scratch their heads. . . . So, what is this play? Is it a tragedy? If so, what's "tragic" about it? Is it a satyr drama? Well, no, but could there possibly be something satyr-drama-like about it? After all, it did stand in the place of a satyr drama. And there is drinking. . . . Or is it something else altogether? If so, what would that be? And what to make of that ending? It's happy - sort of. But who's that woman really, and why won't she talk? And how would you feel if you were in Admetus' shoes? WHAT IS THIS PLAY, ANYWAY??

Euripides ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Born ca. 485 BCE (Athens) Died ca. 406 (Macedonia) Perhaps as many as 88 plays Five victories Comic reputation for misogyny ("hatred of women") Intellectualist, sophistic interests Dramatic experimenter (e.g., prosatyric Alcestis - see below)

Play Facts Produced in 438 BCE, the Alcestis is our first preserved play by Euripides. It, or rather, the tetralogy to which it belonged (Cretan Women , Alcmaeon in Psophis, Telephus,Alcestis), came in 2nd. Sophocles scored first at that particular competition. As for this particular play, we note that it was fourth on the bill, and thus took the place of the usual satyr drama, a "funny" tragedy to provide an entertaining finale to the tragic tetralogy. Hence the Alcestis is sometimes referred to as prosatyric ("play replacing the satyr drama").

Situation You'll remember that in Aeschylus' Eumenides, the Furies recall how Apollo, god of prophecy etc., had previously interfered with fate. Apollo, so goes the story, had had a son Asclepius by the nymph Coronis. This son grew up to be a medical wonder-worker, but for raising the dead, Zeus struck him down with a thunderbolt. In anger, Apollo

killed the Cyclopes, the smiths whose job it was to forge thunderbolts for Zeus. To punish that, Zeus condemned Apollo to serve as slave to a mortal for one year. That mortal, it turns out, was Admetus, a king in Thessaly, whose kindness to the god earned an ambiguous reward. Thus Admetus, when faced with mortal illness, would be able to choose someone to die in his place - according to the Furies in Eumenides, Apollo actually got the Fates (the Moirai) drunk on wine in order to persuade them into allowing this to happen. Admetus has found himself facing death, so he must ask someone to die in his stead, but whom? As it turns out, no one (not father, mother, etc.) will consent to "take the fall" for Admetus - no one, that is, but his wife, Alcestis. The play opens with a kind of prologue agon (stichomythia and all!) between Apollo and Death - at issue, whether Alcestis, fated to die on that day, will actually suffer that fate . . .

Further Things to Think About Themes In some ways, this is a play about relationships. Relationships between . . . ● philoi (family/friends); xenoi (strangers, guests/hosts) ● Gods & gods, gods & humans, humans & humans ● Peers and peers, superiors and inferiors Are these healthy, positive relationships? Disfunctional in any way? What do you think of Admetus' enthusiasm to entertain?

Moral dimension … ●

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What do you think of the main characters - esp. Admetus? Do you respond sympathetically / with antipathy to his situation and conduct? How well does he keep promises? ○ Ditto for the other main characters - Apollo, Alcestis, Heracles, Pheres ○ Do you, for instance, admire the sacrifice made by Alcestis? Is she by the end of the play a "for-real" character? Is she, as described in the play, "best of women"? What is meant there by "best of women"? What do you make of the bedroom statue Admetus promises keep in his bed to remember her by? What of the mysterous figure Heracles will eventually bring in to comfort the grieving Admetus . . . What would Athenians have thought?...