Euripides

“ Admetus:
With Death thou hast fought! But where?
Heracles:
Among his dead
I lay, and sprang and gripped him as he fled.
Admetus, in an awed whisper, looking towards Alcestis.
Why standeth she so still? No sound, no word!
Heracles:
She hath dwelt with Death. Her voice may not be heard
Ere to the Lords of Them Below she pay
Due cleansing, and awake on the third day.
To the Attendants So; guide her home.
They lead Alcestis to the doorway.
And thou, King, for the rest
Of time, be true; be righteous to thy guest,
As he would have thee be. But now farewell! ”

“ Alcestis?
Admetus, his composure a little shaken.
Ah; two answers share my thought,
Questioned of her.
Heracles:
Is she alive or dead?
Admetus:
She is, and is not; and my heart hath bled
Long years for her.
Heracles:
I understand no more.
Thy words are riddles.
Admetus:
Heard'st thou not of yore
The doom that she must meet?
Heracles:
I know thy wife
Has sworn to die for thee.
Admetus:
And is it life,
To live with such an oath hung o'er her head?
Heracles, relieved.
Ah,
Weep not too soon, friend. Wait till she be dead.
Admetus:
He dies who is doomed to die ”

“ My King, thou needs must gird thee to the worst.
Thou shalt not be the last, nor yet the first,
To lose a noble wife. Be brave, and know
To die is but a debt that all men owe.
Admetus:
I know. It came not without doubts and fears,
This thing. The thought hath poisoned all my years.
Howbeit, I now will make the burial due
To this dead Queen. Be assembled, all of you;
And, after, raise your triumph-song to greet
This pitiless Power that yawns beneath our feet.
Meantime let all in Thessaly who dread
My sceptre join in mourning for the dead
With temples sorrow-shorn and sable weed. ”

“ Admetus:
Easier to give such counsel than to keep.
Heracles:
Who will be happier, shouldst thou always weep?
Admetus:
Why, none. Yet some blind longing draws me on...
Heracles:
'Tis natural. Thou didst love her that is gone.
Admetus:
'Tis that hath wrecked, oh more than wrecked, my life.
Heracles:
'Tis certain: thou hast lost a faithful wife.
Admetus:
Till life itself is dead and wearies me.
Heracles:
Thy pain is yet young. Time will soften thee,
The veiled Woman begins dimly, as though in a dream, to hear the words spoken. ”

“ No young shall wither at their side,
No bridal room be swept by death....
Aye, better man should draw his breath
For ever without child or bride.
Chorus, as before.
--'Tis Fate, 'tis Fate:
She is strong and none shall break her.
--No end, no end,
Wilt thou lay to lamentations?
--Endure and be still:
Thy lamenting will not wake her.
--There be many before thee,
Who have suffered and had patience.
--Though the face of Sorrow changeth, yet her hand is on all nations.
Admetus:
The garb of tears, the mourner's cry:
Then the long ache when tears are past!... ”

“ Seeing she hath died, my son, that thou mayst live
Nor I be childless. Aye, she would not give
My soul to a sad old age, mourning for thee.
Methinks she hath made all women's life to be
A nobler thing, by one great woman's deed.
Thou saviour of my son, thou staff in need
To our wrecked age, farewell! May some good life
Be thine still in the grave.--Oh, 'tis a wife
Like this man needs; else let him stay unwed!
The old man has not noticed Admetus's gathering indignation. ”

“ To die for thee. But, prithee, make not strife
With other friends, who will not save thee so.
Be silent, loving thine own life, and know
All men love theirs!... Taunt others, and thou too
Shalt hear much that is bitter, and is true.
Leader:
Too much of wrath before, too much hath run
After. Old man, cease to revile thy son.
Admetus:
Speak on. I have spoken.... If my truth of tongue
Gives pain to thee, why didst thou do me wrong?
Pheres:
Wrong? To have died for thee were far more wrong.
Admetus:
How can an old life weigh against a young? ”

“ Alcestis home, to life and to my friend:
Who gave me shelter, drove me not away
In his great grief, but hid his evil day
Like a brave man, because he loved me well.
Is one in all this land more hospitable,
One in all Greece? I swear no man shall say
He hath cast his love upon a churl away!
He goes forth, just as he is, in the direction of the grave. The Servant watches a moment and goes back into the hall.
The stage is empty; then Admetus and the Chorus return. ”

“ During the last words Admetus and Alcestis have entered. Alcestis is supported by her Handmaids and followed by her two children.
Leader:
And who hath said that Love shall bring
More joy to man than fear and strife?
I knew his perils from of old,
I know them now, when I behold
The bitter faring of my King,
Whose love is taken, and his life
Left evermore an empty thing.
Alcestis:
O Sun, O light of the day that falls!
O running cloud that races along the sky!
Admetus:
They look on thee and me, a stricken twain,
Who have wrought no sin that God should have thee slain. ”

“ Where thou art, and prepare our second home.
These ministers in that same cedar sweet
Where thou art laid will lay me, feet to feet,
And head to head, oh, not in death from thee
Divided, who alone art true to me!
Leader:
This life-long sorrow thou hast sworn, I too,
Thy friend, will bear with thee. It is her due.
Alcestis:
Children, ye heard his promise? He will wed
No other woman nor forget the dead.
Admetus:
Again I promise. So it shall be done.
Alcestis, giving the children into his arms one after the other. ”

“ Thine, my belovèd and my friend!
Alcestis:
Admetus, seeing what way my fortunes lie,
I fain would speak with thee before I die.
I have set thee before all things; yea, mine own
Life beside thine was naught. For this alone
I die.... Dear Lord, I never need have died. ”

“ Heracles signs to the Attendants to take Alcestis away again. She stays veiled and unnoticing in the background.
I was fallen, and in this wise
Thou wilt make me deeper fall.... Meseems, meseems,
There in her face the loved one of my dreams
Looked forth.--My heart is made a turbid thing,
Craving I know not what, and my tears spring
Unbidden.--Grief I knew 'twould be; but how
Fiery a grief I never knew till now.
Leader:
Thy fate I praise not. Yet, what gift soe'er
God giveth, man must steel himself and bear.
Heracles, drawing Admetus on. ”

“ As the song ceases the doors are thrown open and Admetus comes before them: a great funeral procession is seen moving out.
Admetus:
Most gentle citizens, our dead is here
Made ready; and these youths to bear the bier
Uplifted to the grave-mound and the urn.
Now, seeing she goes forth never to return,
Bid her your last farewell, as mourners may.
The procession moves forward, past him.
Leader:
Nay, lord; thy father, walking old and grey;
And followers bearing burial gifts and brave
Gauds, which men call the comfort of the grave.
Enter Pheres with followers bearing robes and gifts. ”

“ Heracles:
The feasting day
Shall surely come; now I must needs away.
Heracles departs.
Admetus:
Farewell! All victory attend thy name
And safe home-coming!
Lo, I make proclaim
To the Four Nations and all Thessaly;
A wondrous happiness hath come to be:
Therefore pray, dance, give offerings and make full
Your altars with the life-blood of the Bull!
For me ... my heart is changed; my life shall mend
Henceforth. For surely Fortune is a friend.
He goes with Alcestis into the house.
Chorus:
There be many shapes of mystery ”

“ Through all my realm no lute, nor lyre, nor sound
Of piping, till twelve moons are at an end.
For never shall I lose a closer friend,
Nor braver in my need. And worthy is she
Of honour, who alone hath died for me.
The body of Alcestis is carried into the house by mourners; Admetus follows it.
Chorus:
Daughter of Pelias, fare thee well,
May joy be thine in the Sunless Houses!
For thine is a deed which the Dead shall tell
Where a King black-browed in the gloom carouses ”

“ And free thy wife, and make thee glad again!
Admetus:
Where is such power? I know thy heart were fain;
But so 'tis writ. The dead shall never rise.
Heracles:
Chafe not the curb, then: suffer and be wise. ”

“ An end shall be of revel, and an end
Of crowns and song and mirth of friend with friend,
Wherewith my house was glad. I ne'er again
Will touch the lute nor ease my heart from pain
With pipes of Afric. All the joys I knew,
And joys were many, thou hast broken in two.
Oh, I will find some artist wondrous wise
Shall mould for me thy shape, thine hair, thine eyes,
And lay it in thy bed; and I will lie
Close, and reach out mine arms to thee, and cry
Thy name into the night, and wait and hear
My own heart breathe: "Thy love, thy love is near." ”

“ Admetus:
Thou shalt not enter any door but mine.
To an Attendant
Lead in our guest. Unlock the furthest line
Of guest-chambers; and bid the stewards there
Make ready a full feast; then close with care
The midway doors. 'Tis unmeet, if he hears
Our turmoil or is burdened with our tears.
The Attendant leads Heracles into the house.
Leader:
How, master? When within a thing so sad
Lies, thou wilt house a stranger? Art thou mad? ”

“ Will break thy glumness, loose thee from the frown
Within. Let mortal man keep to his own
Mortality, and not expect too much.
To all your solemn dogs and other such
Scowlers--I tell thee truth, no more nor less--
Life is not life, but just unhappiness.
He offers the wine-bowl to the Servant, who avoids it.
Servant:
We know all this. But now our fortunes be
Not such as ask for mirth or revelry.
Heracles:
A woman dead, of no one's kin; why grieve
So much? Thy master and thy mistress live.
Servant:
Live? Man, hast thou heard nothing of our woe? ”

“ That other's fostering friend, until I die.
How falsely do these old men pray for death,
Cursing their weight of years, their weary breath!
When Death comes close, there is not one that dares
To die; age is forgot and all its cares. ”

“ Shall lie in Hades' house. Even at the word
I go to lay upon her hair my sword.
For all whose head this grey sword visiteth
To death are hallowed and the Lords of death.
Thanatos goes into the house. Presently, as the day grows lighter, the Chorus enters: it consists of Citizens of Pherae, who speak severally.
Chorus:
Leader:
Quiet, quiet, above, beneath!
Second Elder:
The house of Admetus holds its breath. ”

“ 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. ”