Alcestis (play)

Alcestis
Alcestis and Admetus
Ancient Roman fresco (45–79 AD)
Written byEuripides
ChorusOld men
CharactersApollo
Thanatos / Death
Maidservant
Alcestis
Admetus
Eumelus
Heracles
Servant
Pheres
Date premiered438 BC
Place premieredAthens
Original languageAncient Greek
GenreTragedy
SettingPherae in Thessaly

Alcestis (/ælˈsɛstɪs/; ‹See Tfd›Greek: Ἄλκηστις, Alkēstis) is an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides.[1] It was first produced at the City Dionysia festival in 438 BC. Euripides presented it as the final part of a tetralogy of unconnected plays in the competition of tragedies, for which he won second prize; this arrangement was exceptional, as the fourth part was normally a satyr play.[2] Its ambiguous, tragicomic tone—which may be "cheerfully romantic" or "bitterly ironic"—has earned it the label of a "problem play."[3] Alcestis is, possibly excepting the Rhesus, the oldest surviving work by Euripides, although at the time of its first performance he had been producing plays for 17 years.[4]

  1. ^ Banham (1998, 353).
  2. ^ Fitts (1960b, 143), Banham (1998, 353), and Brockett and Hildy (2003, 16–17, 37).
  3. ^ Banham (1998, 353) and Brockett and Hildy (2003, 37).
  4. ^ Banham (1998, 352) and Brockett and Hildy (2003, 16).