Bulfinch’s Mythology · Chapter
Admetus and Alcestis explained
Apollo, after being condemned to serve a mortal for killing the Cyclopes, becomes the herdsman of King Admetus and helps him win Alcestis.
What happens
Apollo, after being condemned to serve a mortal for killing the Cyclopes, becomes the herdsman of King Admetus and helps him win Alcestis. When Admetus falls ill, the Fates agree to spare him if someone dies in his stead; Alcestis volunteers. Hercules intervenes, seizes Death, and restores Alcestis to life.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Transformation
Alcestis's self-sacrifice for her husband Admetus exemplifies the transformative power of love, leading to her rescue and restoration.
Heroism and the Quest
Hercules undertakes the heroic task of wrestling Death to save Alcestis, demonstrating the archetypal hero's willingness to face impossible odds.
Fate and Free Will
The Fates decree that Admetus must die unless a substitute is found; Alcestis's choice to die in his place highlights the tension between predetermined fate and human agency.
Characters to notice
- Phoebus Apollo
Serves Admetus as a herdsman after being punished by Jupiter for killing the Cyclopes.
- Jupiter
Launches a thunderbolt at Aesculapius and later condemns Apollo to serve a mortal.
- Hercules
Rescues Alcestis from Death by force at the palace of Admetus.
- Admetus
King of Thessaly, suitor of Alcestis, and master of Apollo; spared from death when Alcestis volunteers as substitute.
- Alcestis
Daughter of Pelias, wife of Admetus, who sacrifices herself and is rescued by Hercules.
Key passages
“Aesculapius, the son of Apollo, was endowed by his father with such skill in the healing art that he even restored the dead to life.”
Aesculapius, Apollo's son, had such great healing powers from his father that he could bring the dead back to life.
Introduces the cause of Pluto's alarm and the subsequent punishment of Apollo.
“Alcestis, with a generous self-devotion, proffered herself as the substitute.”
Alcestis, out of noble selflessness, offered to die in place of her husband.
Highlights the central act of sacrifice that drives the narrative.
“Hercules, to whom no labor was too arduous, resolved to attempt her rescue. He went and lay in wait at the door of the chamber of the dying queen, and when Death came for his prey, he seized him and forced him to resign his victim.”
Hercules, who never shied from any challenge, decided to save Alcestis. He hid by her door, and when Death arrived, he grabbed him and compelled him to release her.
Describes the climax where Hercules overcomes Death itself.