Booklist Book Markers

Alcestis’ early life is marked by death: her mother died giving birth to her, and the book describes an infant who seems to be greedily sucking in the air in the birth/death chamber. It marks her further when her adored older sister, Hippothoe, dies young. An unloved daughter of Pelias, granddaughter to Poseidon, Alcestis is nonetheless alone, unremarkable in most ways. She has a stubborn streak that I suppose is presented to challenge the idea that she was meek and loyal to whatever man happened to own her at the moment, but we never truly see where Alcestis gets her fire. What is it that truly sets her apart in Achaean society? She’s practical, to a fault, but that’s not the mark of an interesting character. As she grows, she begins to acquiesce more and more to her prescribed role and doesn’t seem to loathe it; she suffers it, but doesn’t seem truly unhappy.

Married to Admetus after he meets her father’s challenge of driving a chariot led by a boar and a lion (helped by Apollo, natch), Alcestis seems mildly bored with her life as a wife. Even her apparent sadness at Admetus’ affair with Apollo seems tempered and too even-keeled; she seems to shrug off everything. When Hermes comes to a feast that Admetus is holding in honor of Artemis and summons Admetus to death, Alcestis takes his place only to avoid a lifeas the widow of man who sought to push his death onto others (like his previous lover or his elderly parents). She’s not really that much of a go-getter at this point, she just wants to avoid shame.