Alcestis
Laura Slapikoff

I. Background

A. Daughter of Pelias and Anaxibia of Thessaly
B. Wife of Admetus

1. In order for Admetus to receive Pelias' permission to marry Alcestis, Pelias told him he must harness a chariot with wild animals. Admetus succeeded because Apollo yoked a boar and a lion to the chariot for him.
2. At the couple's wedding, Admetus failed to make a proper sacrifice to Artemis, who filled the bridal chamber with snakes in retribution. Admetus begged Apollo to intervene, which he did.
3. As a gesture of appreciation toward Admetus, Apollo arranged with the Fates that Admetus could prolong his lifetime by finding someone to die in his place on his death-day. Only Alcestis would make this sacrifice.
C. Mother of Eumelus

1. Mentioned in catalog of ships in Iliad II "Eumelus, born to Admetus by Alcestis, queen of women/the most radiant daughter Pelias ever fathered."

II. Cultural icon

A. In fifth century Athens, and later Roman times, Alcestis, along with Penelope, Andromache and Arete, came to represent the "sophron woman," one who freely chooses self-sacrifice.1
B. Plato's Symposium (speech of Phaedrus)

1. "Furthermore, only such as are in love 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 and mother. So high did her love exalt her over them in kindness, 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." [179b-c]
2. Achilles compared favorably to Alcestis because in sacrificing his life in vengeance for Patroclus', Achilles as the beloved is making the greater sacrifice.

a) This is not borne out in the myth; Admetus was required by Pelias to perform a superhuman task to win Alcestis' hand, suggesting that he was the lover and she the beloved. Culturally, however, Alcestis would certainly be constructed as the dependent, therefore, the "lover." Once Admetus has won his prize, it loses value.
C. Plato's Symposium (speech of Socrates)

1. According to "Diotima," both Achilles and Alcestis acted out of self-interest, i.e. the expectation of glory ("a deathless memory for valor.") [208c-d]
2. "I hold it is for immortal distinction and for such illustrious renown as this that they do all they can, and so much the more in proportion to their excellence." [208d-e]
III. Euripides' Alcestis

A. Deconstruction of self-sacrificing sophron woman: the catch-22.

1. Alcestis is noteworthy only as sacrificee:

Leader: Poor Master, losing such a lovely mistress!
Maid: And not to feel the shock of it until it's struck.
[144-5]2
2. Once sacrificed, she becomes "nothing:"

Alcestis: Time will heal you. And the dead are nothing. [379]
Alcestis: Say I am nothing, then: no longer here. [387]
Alcestis: I am nothing now. [391]
3. Alcestis manipulates the situation to her children's (and by extension her own) advantage by requiring Admetus not to remarry.

B. Alcestis is perceived as "the best of wives" [85], a human embodiment of sacrifice. Euripides uses Alcestis' nothingness to illuminate Admetus' hypocrisy. Admetus' relationship with Heracles is given consistent precedence over his relationship with Alcestis, despite the lip service he pays her. Admetus is willing to blame everyone but himself for his loss of a wife, going so far as to accuse her of "deserting" him, when in fact it is because of his supreme selfishness and his own willingness to sacrifice her that she must die at all. This set of priorities is symbolically sanctioned both religiously and politically in the character of Apollo.
1 North, Helen F. "The Mare, the Vixen, and the Bee: Sophrosyne as the Virtue of Women in Antiquity." Illinois Classical Studies II, (1977), 35-48.
2 All quotes from "Alcestis" from Roche, Paul, tr. Three Plays of Euripides. (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1974). pp. 1-32.

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Alcestis Laura Slapikoff

Alcestis
Laura Slapikoff