Euripides' Alcestis - Essay Example

On Alcestis and Admetos’ wedding day, the groom is faced with imminent death for failing to sacrifice Artemis. To atone for this failure and avoid death, Admetos is forced to exchange his life for another person. However, to his disappointment, there is no one from his household who is willing to lay down their life for his. It is during this moment that Alcestis, his wife, offers to die for him. This paper aims to address the notion that Alcestis should have never died for Admetos, considering his character, was a serious mistake. Admetos was well aware of the customs, tradition and rites that were practiced by his people.

His failure to perform the rite of sacrificing to Artemis, the god who determined an individual’s destiny, was an act of ignorance on his part. He should have followed the right protocol required of any man in his society when marrying. Admetos showed kindness and generosity towards his wife, but this does not justify that he should accept her sacrifice to die for him. He says, “Old men’s prayers for death are lying prayers, in which they abuse old age and long extent of life. But when death draws near, not one is willing to die, and age no longer is a burden to then (Euripides et al. 219). This is because his acts of kindness and generosity do not dictate or demand that his wife bear the burden of his mistakes.

If Admetos truly loved his wife, he should not have allowed her to sacrifice herself for him, and this is clearly illustrated when Apollo battles death to save Alcestis. When Apollo realizes that nobody, in the house of Admetos, gave their life for him apart from his wife, he rectifies the mistake done by rescuing Alcestis from Hades and restoring her back to life with the help of Heracles. It was a grave mistake for Alcestis, to lay down her life for Admetos because, even if she was his wife, he did not love her for his heart belonged to a god.

The mistake is highlighted by Apollo’s act of setting out to rescue her from Hades in the underworld. Apollo would not have gone to rescue her if it was all right for her to sacrifice herself. Upon Alcestis’ resurrection, she is not responsive to Admetos’ advances because she had come to understand that he does not love her (Euripides et al. 219). Admetos should have borne the responsibility of his own mistakes instead of letting other people suffer in his stead. This shows his selfish and self-centered character, which does not allow him to see his mistakes and atone for them.

It is for this reason that Alcestis is seen to commit acts that can be interpreted as acts of revenge, but in essence, they are meant to teach Admetos a lesson in humility. Alcestis should have seen Admetos’ true self and come to the realization that Admetos was not worth saving. Even after Alcestis is restored back to life, Admetos does not show her love that she deserves and this further aggravates the feelings of her broken heart (Euripides et al. 57). Admetos smiled when she was disappearing to the underworld, which shows that he was not remorseful.

He was not saddened by what had taken place because he thought he deserved to live more than his wife deserved to live.