Characters and themes in Alcestis play

In this play, the three main characters represent three different virtues that a human being should have. First, Alcestis is the lovely wife, who accepts to die on behalf of and for her husband: with her choice, she demonstrated her full loyalty to his lover, a loyalty that is not present in all others Admetus’ friends or his parents, who refused to help him with his illness. Moreover, she incarnates the areté and Eusebia, since dying for her husband means that she recognised the social role of the king, who is responsible for many people and cannot be absent. The second character is the king Admetus, who is an excellent example of how hospitality should be: even though his wife has just died, he makes any effort to treat Hercules as a proper host, as required by the Greek culture. Finally, Heracles shows his heroism in fighting and winning against Death and then bringing Alcestis to her husband; however, this heroism is obscured by Alcestis’ bravery and by Admetus’ loyalty, who prevents him from accepting another woman in the house, in order not to obscure his memory of Alcestis.