Alcestis | Page 5

relation he bears to Hades, the great Olympian king of the
unseen. The answer is obvious. Thanatos is the servant of Hades, a
"priest" or sacrificer, who is sent to fetch the appointed victims.
The other characters speak for themselves. Certainly Pheres can be
trusted to do so, though we must remember that we see him at an
unfortunate moment. The aged monarch is not at his best, except
perhaps in mere fighting power. I doubt if he was really as cynical as he
here professes to be.
* * * * *
In the above criticisms I feel that I may have done what critics are so
apt to do. I have dwelt on questions of intellectual interest and perhaps
thereby diverted attention from that quality in the play which is the
most important as well as by far the hardest to convey; I mean the sheer
beauty and delightfulness of the writing. It is the earliest dated play of
Euripides which has come down to us. True, he was over forty when he
produced it, but it is noticeably different from the works of his old age.
The numbers are smoother, the thought less deeply scarred, the
language more charming and less passionate. If it be true that poetry is
bred out of joy and sorrow, one feels as if more enjoyment and less
suffering had gone to the making of the Alcestis than to that of the later
plays.

ALCESTIS

CHARACTERS OF THE PLAY
ADMÊTUS, King of Pherae in Thessaly. ALCESTIS, _daughter of

Pelias, his wife_. PHERÊS, _his father, formerly King but now in
retirement_. TWO CHILDREN, his son and daughter. A
MANSERVANT in his house. A HANDMAID.
The Hero HERACLES. The God APOLLO. THANÁTOS or DEATH.
CHORUS, consisting of Elders of Pherae.
"_The play was first performed when Glaukînos was Archon, in the
2nd year of the 85th Olympiad_ (438 B.C.). _Sophocles was first,
Euripides second with the Cretan Women, Alcmaeon in Psophis,
Telephus and Alcestis.... The play is somewhat Satyric in character._"

ALCESTIS
The scene represents the ancient Castle of ADMETUS _near Pherae in
Thessaly. It is the dusk before dawn_; APOLLO, _radiant in the
darkness, looks at the Castle._
APOLLO. Admetus' House! 'Twas here I bowed my head Of old, and
chafed not at the bondman's bread, Though born in heaven. Aye, Zeus
to death had hurled My son, Asclepios, Healer of the World, Piercing
with fire his heart; and in mine ire I slew his Cyclop churls, who forged
the fire. Whereat Zeus cast me forth to bear the yoke Of service to a
mortal. To this folk I came, and watched a stranger's herd for pay, And
all his house I have prospered to this day. For innocent was the Lord I
chanced upon And clean as mine own heart, King Pheres' son, Admetus.
Him I rescued from the grave, Beguiling the Grey Sisters till they gave
A great oath that Admetus should go free, Would he but pay to Them
Below in fee Another living soul. Long did he prove All that were his,
and all that owed him love, But never a soul he found would yield up
life And leave the sunlight for him, save his wife: Who, even now,
down the long galleries Is borne, death-wounded; for this day it is She
needs must pass out of the light and die. And, seeing the stain of death
must not come nigh My radiance, I must leave this house I love. But ha!
The Headsman of the Pit, above Earth's floor, to ravish her! Aye, long
and late He hath watched, and cometh at the fall of fate.
Enter from the other side THANATOS; _a crouching black-haired and
winged figure, carrying a drawn sword. He starts in revulsion on
seeing_ APOLLO.

THANATOS. Aha! Why here? What mak'st thou at the gate, Thou
Thing of Light? Wilt overtread The eternal judgment, and abate And
spoil the portions of the dead? 'Tis not enough for thee to have blocked
In other days Admetus' doom With craft of magic wine, which mocked
The three grey Sisters of the Tomb; But now once more I see thee stand
at watch, and shake That arrow-armèd hand to make This woman thine,
who swore, who swore, To die now for her husband's sake.
APOLLO. Fear not. I bring fair words and seek but what is just.
THANATOS (_sneering_) And if words help thee not, an arrow must?
APOLLO. 'Tis ever my delight to bear this bow.
THANATOS. And aid this house unjustly? Aye, 'tis so.
APOLLO. I love this man, and grieve for his dismay.
THANATOS. And now wilt rob me of my second prey!
APOLLO. I never robbed thee, neither then nor now.
THANATOS. Why is Admetus here then, not below?
APOLLO. He