History Theatre / Alcestis

** Actually it's more a case of JerkassHasAPoint: without a king, Thebes is bound to be attacked and taken by another city, then Admetus's parents will be killed or enslaved along with the rest of the population and their line will be extinct.

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Alcestis, thanks to Heracles's trip to the Underworld]].

* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler:Hercules]], in both the play and the original myth Euripides used.

* HotBlooded: In many myths, Heracles becomes so enraged at the people who wrong him that he takes a terrible vengeance on them. In this case, Heracles is so grateful to Admetus for his hospitality, and embarrassed by his own actions, that he marches off to rescue Alcestis without a second thought.

* LoveHurts: Admetus is completely devastated by Alcestis's sacrifice to the point of swearing to never remarry and to commission a statue of her to lie next to him every night. This is very surprising, even if a bit creepy, because this is Ancient Greek culture where women are little more than properties.

* TheMourningAfter: Admetus promised to never remarry after his wife's death. [[spoiler:Mercifully this doesn't last too long thanks to Hercules]].
* NeverMyFault: Admetus blames his parents for being too cowardly to die for him, even in their old age, resulting in Alcestis's death. His father, meanwhile, is disgusted that Admetus would expect something like that, and states that Admetus himself is truly the one to blame.
** Actually it's more a case of JerkassHasAPoint: without a king, Thebes is bound to be attacked and taken by another city, then Admetus' parents will be killed or enslaved along with the rest of the population and their line will be extinct.
* NotYourProblem: Thanatos says this to Apollo about Alcestis' death.

* SacredHospitality: A major conflict of the play is Hercules' surprising visit to Admetus's kingdom during a funeral. Admetus decided to hide this news from Hercules and invite him in anyway.
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: [[spoiler:Heracles does this for Admetus and Alcestis by traveling to the Underworld to get her back. His reason is that he had been acting disrespectful because he didn't know about her death]].
* TakeMeInstead: The major part of the agreement Apollo had made Admetus: the king can escape death if someone else offers to die for him. The play opens with his wife, Alcestis, being the only one to offer.

* HotBlooded: In many myths, Heracles becomes so enraged at the people who wrong him that he takes a terrible vengeance on them. In this case, Heracles is so grateful to Admetus for his hospitality that he marches off to rescue Alcestis without a second thought.

* GenreBusting: Euripides placed the play in the Athenian competition as the slot for the SatyrPlay but it is a Tragedy that blends elements of both satyr, comedy and Tragedy with a bitter and BlackComedy tone. Modern scholars have classified the play as one of the first [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_play Problem play]].

* BalancingDeathsBooks: Gods can occasionally save select mortals from death, but Apollo is in no position to grant such a boon. The whole Cyclopes-killing story started with Apollo's son Asclepius raising the dead, which drove ire of Hades. The underworld god complained to Zeus that Asclepius was diminishing him of his subjects. Seeing that Apollo is already on sufferance from Zeus, he can have no recourse to him in that matter. On the other hand, the Underworld won't give anything for free: hence the victim swap idea.

* LoveHurts: Admetus is completely devastated by Alcestis's sacrifice to the point of swearing to never remarry and to commission a statue of her lie next to him every night. This is very surprising, even if a bit creepy, because this is Ancient Greek culture where women are little more than properties.

* TheMourningAfter: Admetus promised to never remarry after her death. [[spoiler:Thanks Zeus that didn't last too long thanks to Hercules]].

* SacredHospitality: A major conflict of the play is Hercules's surprising visit to Admetus's kingdom during a funeral. Admetus decided to hide this news from Hercules and invite him in anyway.
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: [[spoiler:Heracles does this for Admetus and Alcestis by traveling to the Underworld to get her back. His reason is that he has been acting disrespectful because he didn't know about her death]].

The play is a retelling of the myth of Admetus and Alcestis. The god Apollo had slain the Cyclopes, forgers of Zeus's thunder, and so the sky god punished him by making him serve a mortal man: King Admetus of Thessaly. Because Apollo found Admetus to be a just man, he rewarded him by saving him from death; unfortunately, for this to be done [[TakeMeInstead someone else had to die in the king's place]].

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Alcestis, thanks to Hercules's trip to the Underworld]].

* BalancingDeathsBooks: Gods can occasionally save select mortals from death, but Apollo is in no position to grant such a boon. The whole Cyclopes-killing story started with Apollo's son Asclepius raising the dead, which drove ire of Hades. The death god complained to Zeus that Asclepius was diminishing him of his subjects. Seeing that Apollo is already on sufferance from Zeus, he can have no recourse to him in that matter. On the other hand, the Underworld won't give anything for free: hence the victim swap idea.

%%* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Alcestis]].

%%* EquivalentExchange

%%* HeroicSacrifice: Alcestis.

%%* LoveHurts

%%* TheMourningAfter

%%* SacredHospitality
%%* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Heracles does this for Admetus and Alcestis.

* BalancingDeathsBooks: Since not even the gods can grant immortality, for one to cheat death, another must die willingly in their stead.

** Justified in that Admetus did not wish to trouble his friend, and so Heracles went much of the night not knowing about his friend's loss.
** Also was considered part of SacredHospitality, which they took ''seriously'' even by Greek standards.

* AllDeathsFinal: [[spoiler:Averted once Heracles comes along]].

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Alcestis]].

* CharacterTitle

* EquivalentExchange

* GreekChorus

* HeroicSacrifice: Alcestis.

* LoveHurts

* TheMourningAfter

* ProperLady: Alcestis.
* SacredHospitality
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Heracles does this for Admetus and Alcestis.

''Alcestis'' is a play by {{Euripides}}, one of the ancient Greek tragedians. The work was composed in 438BC, not as a tragedy, but in the place of one of the satyr plays the playwrights would enter in the competition. As such, Euripides gives the story a more comic treatment than tragic, though it has its fair share of tragedy and drama.

* [[spoiler:HappyEnding]]: Which isn't exactly common in the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek myths]]...

* [[spoiler:HappyEnding]]: Which isn't exactly common in the [[ClassicalMythology Greek myths]]...

* [[spoiler:BackFromTheDead]]: [[spoiler:Alcestis]].

-->--'''Euripides''', ''Alcestis'', Lines 19-21 [[hottip:*:(Now, her spirit about to break loose, she is raised by the hands of those within the house: for on this day she is to die and substitute her life.)]]

* CharacterTitle: Alcestis.
* BalancingDeathsBooks

-->--Euripides, ''Alcestis'', Lines 19-21 [[hottip:*:(Now, her spirit about to break loose, she is raised by the hands of those within the house: for on this day she is to die and substitute her life.)]]

* TheGrimReaper: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Death]] (more specifically, Thanatos; there are two bringers/gods of death, Thanatos and his sisters the Keres)