Dramatic irony in Alcestis

Alcestis, written by Ancient Greek dramatist Euripides, was submitted in the competition of tragedies as the final part of the tetralogy. The play revolves around the character Alcestis. Alcestis’ husband Admetus, with the help of god Apollo, gets the opportunity to live beyond the time of his death, but for that he will have to find someone who will take his place when Death will come to claim him. Alcestis agrees to die in her husband’s place. However, in the end of the play, we can see that she comes back to life again. So, we can say that her character is ruled by irony. 

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Apollo was standing in front of the palace carrying bow on his shoulder. On seeing him, Death shouted with anger. He asked Apollo what he is doing here. He also asked Apollo if he is here to save Alcestis too. It is an ironic element because at the end of the play, we can see that Alcestis was also saved. Apollo presages Death how Alcestis will be saved. He said that Death will be defeated by a man who is coming to the palace during a stopover on a mission to capture the man-eating horses of Diomedes for Eurystheus. Here Apollo is referring to Heracles who will be entertained as a guest of Admetus and take woman from Death by force. Thus, Alcestis will be ultimately saved.

The chorus said, “Will someone come?”

We can also find the indication in Chorus’ speech that someone will come to save Alcestis. The chorus then requested Zeus and Apollo to find a way so that Alcestis could be saved. They agreed that only the son of Apollo, Asclepius, who had the power to raise the dead, could save her now. But he himself is dead, slain by the thunderbolt of Zeus.

Dramatic irony is also found through the comment of servant. Throughout the play, we can see that servants like Alcestis. They hail her as a mother figure. Because of their fondness towards Alcestis, they see things from Alcestis’ point of view. In telling the chorus the events of the day, the servant speaks entirely with sympathy for Alcestis, recalls what she has said and done and how she is becoming weaker and weaker. The servant does not mention Admetus until the chorus pointedly asks about him. In her reply the servant shows how Admetus is coping with the situation,

“Oh, yes, he weeps…Beseeching her not to desert him.”

At the beginning of the play, we can see that Alcestis agreed to die in her husband’s place. But here the irony is that he is asking his wife not to leave him. The servant says,

“But he asks the impossible.”

The servant and possibly Alcestis can see the unfairness of the situation. Alcestis is dying for Admetus and he is accusing her of deserting him.

The irony of the situation is deepened as Admetus asks, “Have you the heart to abandon me?”. This sentence shows the unfair demands Admetus is making. Alcestis is dying for him but this question makes it seems as though she is choosing to leave him for some other reasons. The servant is the only one who notices the irony of Admetus’ comments.

Heracles comes to the palace of Admetus during a mission to seize the four-horse chariot of Diomedes. Admetus comes out of the palace and greets him. Seeing him in mourning clothes, Heracles asked him about the reason. In response to the question, he said that he had to perform a burial. Heracles inquires about the death person and says that surely the person who has died is not his wife. We know that it is Admetus’ wife, Alcestis, who has died, but in order to be a proper host, he covers up the fact.

Heracles scolded the servant for treating him coldly and for worrying about a grief that did not concern this house. He said that the dead woman was not of this family and the servant’s master and mistress are both well. The servant then informed him of the death of Alcestis and told him that the household was attending to her burial in a tomb on the outskirts of the city. When Heracles came to know the truth, he decided to bring Alcestis back as a gratitude for his host.

Heracles approaches with a veiled young woman whom he says he won in a public contest. Looking at the veiled woman, he said,

“Young woman, whoever you are, you have the same figure and height Alcestis had; you stand like her.”

Admetus was unaware of the fact that Alcestis herself was standing in front of him. When Heracles pulls off the woman’s veil and tells Admetus to look at her, he turns around and sees Alcestis. In his astonishment, he first thinks she is a ghost. Heracles tells him to embrace her. When Admetus does so, he realizes it is indeed Alcestis. Overjoyed and deeply grateful to Heracles, Admetus asks him how he was able to retrieve her. Heracles says he pulled her away from Death at the site of her tomb.