Mythology%20of%20the%20play%20Apollo%20Asclepius%20Cyclopes%20Zeus%20Heracles%20Death%20%20Zeus%20was%20the%20cause:%20he%20killed%20my%20son%20Asclepius,%20striking%20him%20in%20the%20chest%20with%20the%20lightning-bolt,%20[5]%20and%20in%20anger%20at%20this%20I%20slew%20the%20Cyclopes%20who%20forged%20Zeus's%20fire.%20%20[65]

1
Mythology of the playApollo Asclepius
CyclopesZeus Heracles Death Zeus was the
cause he killed my son Asclepius, striking him
in the chest with the lightning-bolt, 5 and
in anger at this I slew the Cyclopes who forged
Zeus's fire. 65 The man to make you do so is
coming to the house of Pheres sent by Eurystheus
to fetch the horses and chariot from the wintry
land of Thrace. I see that Death (Thanatos),
the priest of the dead, is already drawing near.
25 He is about to take her down to the house
of Hades.
2
the MythApollodorus 1.9.15 When Admetus reigned
over Pherae, Apollo served him as his labourer
while Admetus wooed Alcestis, daughter of Pelias.
Now Pelias had promised to give his daughter to
whoever yoked a lion and a boar to a car, and
Apollo yoked and gave them to Admetus, who
brought them to Pelias and so obtained Alcestis.
But in offering a sacrifice at his marriage, he
forgot to sacrifice to Artemis therefore when he
opened the marriage chamber he found it full of
coiled snakes. Apollo bade him appease the
goddess and obtained as a favour of the Fates
that, when Admetus should be about to die, he
might be released from death if someone chose
voluntarily to die for him. And when the day of
his death came neither his father nor his mother
would die for him, but Alcestis died in his
stead. But the Maiden (Kore) sent her up again,
or, as some say, Hercules fought with Hades and
brought her up to him.850 But if I fail to
catch this quarry and he does not come to the
blood offering, I shall go down to the sunless
house of Persephone and her lord in the world
below and shall ask for Alcestis, and I think I
shall bring her up and put her in the hands of my
friend. Iliad 2 And they that dwelt in Pherae .
. . and well-built Iolcus, these were led by the
dear son of Admetus with eleven ships, Eumelus,
whom Alcestis, queenly among women, 715 the
most beautiful of the daughters of Pelias, bore
to Admetus.
3
Folktale Orpheus965 I have found nothing
stronger than Necessity, nor is there any cure
for it in the Thracian tablets set down by the
voice of Orpheus nor in all the drugs which
Phoebus 970 harvested in aid of
trouble-ridden mortals and gave to the sons of
Asclepius.If I had the voice and music of
Orpheus so that I could charm Demeter's daughter
or her husband with song and fetch you from
Hades, 360 I would have gone down to the
Underworld, and neither Pluto's hound nor Charon
the ferryman of souls standing at the oar would
have kept me from bringing you back to the light
alive.Death as inevitable vs death as
deceivable Only Phoebus' son, if he still
looked upon the light of the sun, 125 would
cause her to leave behind the gloomy realm and
the portals of Hades. For he used to raise the
dead, until the two-pronged goad of the
lightning-fire killed him.
4
Alcestis Best (aristos) of women Thucydides,
2.45.2 If I must say anything on the subject of
female excellence (arete) to those of you who
will now be in widowhood, it will be all
comprised in this brief exhortation. Great will
be your reputation (doxa) in not falling short of
your natural character and greatest will be hers
about whom there is the least talk (kleos) among
the men whether for good or for bad. 1000
Someone walking a winding path past her tomb
shall say, This woman died in the stead of her
husband, and now she is a blessed divinity. Hail,
Lady, and grant us your blessing! Best
(aristê) indeed! Who will say she is not? What
should we call the woman who surpasses her? How
could any woman give greater proof 155 that
she gives her husband the place of honor than by
being willing to die for him?
5
Plato, Symposium Only those in love (eros) will
consent to die for others not merely men will do
it, but women too. Sufficient witness is borne
to this statement before the people of Greece by
Alcestis, daughter of Pelias, who alone was
willing to die for her husband, though he had
both father 179c and mother. So high did her
love exalt her over them in philia, that they
were proved alien to their son and but nominal
relations and when she achieved this deed, it
was judged so noble by gods as well as men that,
although among all the many doers of noble deeds
they are few and soon counted to whom the gods
have granted the privilege of having their souls
sent up again from Hades, hers they thus restored
in admiration of her act. Aeschylus, Eum. 723
You (Apollo) did such things also in the house of
Pheres, when you persuaded the Fates to make
mortals free from death.420 I understand
that, and this sorrow did not fall upon me
unexpected. I have long been worn down with the
knowledge of it.
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Alcestis 438 BC 4th play A Satyr play?1-76
Prologue 1. Apollo 2. Death77-135
Parodos136-212 3. Maid213-243
Ode244-434 1. Admetus 2. Alcestis 3.
Boy435-475 Ode476-568 1. Admetus 2.
Heracles569-605 Ode606-740 1. Admetus 2.
Pheres741-746 Ode 747-860 2. Heracles 3.
Servant861-934 Kommos Admetus935-961 1.
Admetus962 -1007 Ode1008-end 1. Admetus 2.
Heracles
445 Poets shall sing often of you both on the
seven-stringed mountain tortoise-shell and in
songs unaccompanied by the lyre when at Sparta
the month of Carnea comes circling round 450
and the moon is aloft the whole night long, and
also in rich, gleaming Athens. Such is the theme
for song that you have left for poets by your
death.
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Xenia and mourningHeracles I shall go to the
house of some other guest-friends.Admetus No no,
my lord! Heaven avert such a misfortune!Heracles
540 To mourners the arrival of a guest is
vexing.If I had driven from my house and city a
guest (xenos) who had just arrived, would you
have praised me more? 555 No, indeed, since
my misfortune would have been in no way lessened,
and I would have been less hospitable. And in
addition to my ills we would have the further ill
that my house would be called inhospitable. I
myself find in this man the best host (xenos)
560 whenever I go to thirsty Argos.857 What
Thessalian is more hospitable than he, what
Greek?
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Admetus - adamastos 10 I am myself holy
(hosios), and in Admetus, son of Pheres, I found
a holy man. And so I rescued him from death by
tricking the Fates.823 Yes, for his modesty
(aidos) kept him from thrusting you from his
house.Aristotle Eudemian Ethics 1233b he who
regards the opinion of those who appear fair is
modest.And anyone who is my enemy will say,
955 Look at this man who lives on in
disgrace! He did not have the courage to die but
in cowardice escaped death by giving his wife in
his place. And after that can we think him a man?
He hates his parents though he himself is
unwilling to die. Beside my sorrows I will have
to endure this kind of repute (kleos).For his
noble nature runs towards modesty. Among the good
everything is possible. I marvel at his wisdom.
And sure confidence sits in my heart 605 that
the god-fearing man will prosper. I, who ought
not to be alive and have escaped my fate, 940
shall now live out my life in pain. Now I
understand. 1093 I commend you, truly. But
you deserve the name of fool.
9
PheresI did not invite you to this funeral,
630 nor do I count your presence here as that
of a friend (philos). You should have shared
my trouble when I was dying. You stood aside and,
though you are old, 635 allowed a young
person to die and will you now come to mourn
her? You were not, as it now seems clear, truly
my father, nor did she who claims to have borne
me and is called my mother really give me birth,
but I was born of some slave and secretly put to
your wife's breast. 640 When you were put to
the test you showed your true nature, and I do
not count myself as your son. 665 I for my
part shall never bury you myself. For as far as
in you lay I am dead. And if I have found another
savior and still look upon the sun, I am that
savior's child and fond support in old age. At
all events you have shamelessly (anaidôs) striven
to avoid death, 695 and you live beyond your
fated day by killing . 730 I go. But you
will bury her being yourself her murderer, and
one day you will pay the penalty to your kin by
marriage. Acastus is no man if he fails to punish
you for his sister's death.
10
Melodrama?Admetus 527 The one doomed to die
is gone, has died and is no more.Heracles To
be and not to be are deemed to be separate
things.Admetus You have your view on this,
Heracles, and I have mine.You have touched my
heart, you have touched my soul.When the noble
are afflicted, 110 those who all their lives
have been deemed loyal must mourn.An image of
you shaped by the hand of skilled craftsmen shall
be laid out in my bed. 350 I shall fall into
its arms, and as I embrace it and call your name
I shall imagine, though I have her not, that I
hold my dear wife in my arms, a cold pleasure, to
be sure, but thus I shall lighten my soul's
heaviness.Pygmalion and Galatea
11
HeraclesBut never yet have I welcomed 750 a
worse guest to our hearth than this one. 840
For I must save the woman who has just died and
show my gratitude (charis) to Admetus by
restoring Alcestis once more to this house. One
should speak freely to a friend, Admetus, and not
silently store up reproaches in the heart.
1010 I thought it right that I should stand by
you in your misfortune and give proof that I was
your friend. Yet you did not tell me your wife
was laid out for burial but feasted me in the
house, saying that you were busy with a grief not
your own.
12
Hamartia 342 Do I make a mistake to mourn when
I have lost such a wife as you? 615 For you
have lost, as no one will deny, a noble and
virtuous wife..709 But if it pains you to hear
the truth, you should not be wronging me.
710 If I were dying on your behalf, I would be
more mistaken. What greater sorrow can a man
have than the loss 880 of his faithful wife?
1099 And yet you will be making a mistake if
you do not.
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I do not hate you, although it is you alone that
cause my death 180 it is because I shrank
from abandoning you and my husband that I now
die. Some other woman will possess you, luckier,
perhaps, than I but not more virtuous. I need
not have died in your place 285 but could
have married the Thessalian of my choice and
lived in wealth in a royal house. But I refused
to live torn from your side with orphaned
children and did not spare my young life, though
I had much in which I took delight.Keep them as
lords of my house 305 and do not marry again,
putting over them a step-mother, who will be less
noble than I and out of envy will lay a hostile
hand to your children and mine.
14
1050 For she is young, as is evident from
her clothing and adornment. Shall she stay in the
men's quarters? And how, moving among young men,
shall she remain untouched? 1072 I wish I had
the power to convey your wife to the light from
the halls below and could do you this service
(charis).Admetus My lord, you compel me to
do this against my will.Heracles Have the
courage to stretch out your hand and touch the
stranger. Admetus There, I stretch it out, as if
I were cutting off a Gorgon's head.
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There, I stretch it out, as if I were cutting off
a Gorgon's head.
16
You are not yet allowed to hear her speak to you,
1145 not until she becomes purified in the
sight of the nether gods when the third day
comes. But take her in. Continue, Admetus, to
show your guests the piety of a righteous man.