Apollo has won King Admetus of Pherae a strange reprieve: he may escape his appointed death if someone will die for him. His old parents refuse; his wife Alcestis consents. Into the house of mourning strides Heracles, an unknowing guest, and grief turns to something stranger. Gilbert Murray’s rhymed translation comes with his introduction on how the play has been read.
Half tragedy and half fairy tale, the most easily staged of Euripides’s dramas suits anyone curious about Greek theatre. Download the free EPUB.