ALCESTI

STORY

Zeus condemned Apollo to live as a slave in the house of Admetus, king of Pheres in Thessaly, to atone for the guilt of killingthe Cyclops .Thanks to his benevolent welcome, Apollo has great respect for Admetus, so much so that he gets from the Moire that the friend can escape death, provided that someone sacrifices for him. No one, however, is willing to do so, neither friends nor elderly parents: only the beloved wife Alcesti declares herself ready. When Thanatos, Death arrives on the scene, Apollo tries in vain to avoid the end of the woman and moves away, leaving the house immersed in an anguished silence. With the entrance of the choir of the citizens of Fere the real tragedy opens, a servant leaves the building and announces that Alcestis is now ready to die. Thanks to the help of Admetus and his children, Alcestis appears to pronounce his last words: he greets the sunlight, pities herself, accuses her in-laws, who selfishly refused to sacrifice themselves, and consoles her husband.

In the meantime he arrives at Palazzo Eracle, intent on one of the twelve labors, to ask for hospitality. Admetus welcomes him generously, while not hiding his affliction from him, so much so that he is forced to explain to him why. He tells the hero that a woman who lived in the house, but was not related, has died, so as not to make him uncomfortable, while somehow hiding the truth of the facts. It will be the intervention of a servant to reveal to Heracles the true identity of the dead “non-consanguineous” woman. The hero, strongly repentant, thus decides to go to Hades to bring her back to life. Heracles returns to Admetus with a veiled woman, pretending to have “won” her at public games, to test her loyalty. Admetus, initially, is almost horrified to touch her, convinced that it is someone else, and agrees to look at her only to please his guest. Removed the veil, it turns out that the woman is Alcestis, now restored to the affection of her loved ones. Heracles explains to Admetus that the woman is not allowed to speak for three days, the time needed to be “desecrated” to the underworld.