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"If I had the voice and
music of Orpheus so that I could charm Demeter's daughter or her husband with
song and fetch you from Hades, I would have gone down to the
Underworld, and neither Hades's hound nor Charon the ferryman of
souls standing at the oar would have kept me from
bringing you back to the light alive."
[Admetus 1 to Alcestis. Euripides,
Alcestis
359]
"For you alone, dear among
women, had the courage to redeem your husband from
Hades at the price of your life."
[Elders of Pherae, Euripides,
Alcestis
460]
"Glance at the ambition of
the men around you, and consider how singularly
they are affected with the love of winning a name.
Do you suppose that Alcestis would have died for
Admetus, or Achilles have sought death on the corpse of
Patroclus if they had not expected to win 'a
deathless memory for valor,' which now we keep?"
[Diotima to Socrates. Plato,
Symposium
208d]
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Alcestis is remembered for having given her life
for her husband.
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Background of Admetus 1
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Admetus 1, who is found among the
ARGONAUTS, and among
the CALYDONIAN
HUNTERS, became king of Pherae in Thessaly
after his father Pheres 1, the founder of the city.
Admetus 1's grandfather was Cretheus 1, founder of
Iolcus (another Thessalian city whence the
ARGONAUTS sailed) and
son of the great Thessalian ruler
Aeolus 1, himself son of
Hellen 1, eponym of the
Hellenes and son of
Deucalion 1, one of
the most importants survivors of that
catastrophical flood, which is known as
The Flood of Deucalion 1.
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Alcestis' father is Admetus 1's uncle
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Admetus 1 wished to marry Alcestis, one of the
daughters of King Pelias
1 of Iolcus, successor of Cretheus 1. This
Pelias 1 is the same who
bade Jason, captain of the
ARGONAUTS, to go in
quest of the Golden Fleece. And about his
daughters, it is told that they were persuaded by
Medea (after the return of
the ARGONAUTS to
Iolcus) to make mincemeat of their father and boil
him, promising to make him young again with her
drugs.
As both Pelias 1 and
Pheres 1 are sons of Cretheus 1, it results from it
that Admetus 1 and Alcestis were cousins.
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How Alcestis' hand was won
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When Pelias 1 still
was among the living, he promised to give his
daughter Alcestis to him who should yoke a lion and
a boar to a chariot. And
Apollo, the sweet son of
Leto, yoked the beasts and
gave them to Admetus 1, who brought them to King
Pelias 1, thus obtaining
the hand of Alcestis.
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Reasons for the presence of
Apollo and of his divine
help
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Why should Apollo help
Admetus 1? This is the reason:
Asclepius, son of
Apollo and a remarkable
healer, used the blood of
Medusa 1, which he had
received from Athena, in
such a skillful way that he was able, through
remedies conceived by him, to raise the dead. Some
say that Zeus feared that
men would acquire this art from him and so come to
the rescue of each other. So, in order to
reestablish the normal ways, the god smote
Asclepius with his
thunderbolt. Grieved at the death of his beloved
son, and not being able to raise his hand against
his own father, Apollo,
in revenge, slew the
CYCLOPES, who had
fashioned the thunderbolt for
Zeus. On account of this
deed, Zeus would have
hurled Apollo to
Tartarus, had
Leto not intervened. So
instead Zeus ordered
Apollo, as a penalty for
having destroyed the
CYCLOPES, to serve as a
thrall to a man for a year. And this man came to be
Admetus 1, who already was king of Pherae, where
Apollo served him as
herdman, performing miracles to improve the
outcomes of his new occupation. And since
Apollo found he had been
kindly treated when given in servitude to Admetus
1, he provided him with the wild beasts, with which
Admetus 1 bore off Alcestis in marriage.
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A special favour
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But in offering a sacrifice at his marriage,
Admetus 1 forgot to sacrifice to
Artemis, and
consequently found his marriage chamber full of
coiled serpents. Apollo
bade King Admetus 1 appease the goddess, and
meanwhilehe obtained, because Admetus 1 was such a
kind master towards him, a special favour of the
MOERAE. And this favour
was that when Admetus 1 should be about to die, he
might be released from death, if someone should
choose voluntarily to die for him.
"In Admetus I
found a godly man. And so I rescued him from death
by tricking the
MOERAE. These goddesses promised me that
Admetus could escape an immediate death by giving
in exchange another corpse to the powers below."
[Apollo.
Euripides,
Alcestis
10]
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Alcestis dies in vicarious death, but is rescued
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But Admetus could not find someone who would die
for him, for certainly life is dear to mortals. Not
even those who were closer to him by blood, his
aged parents, wished to agree to such a deal. But
Alcestis was willing to died in his stead, and that
was the measure of her love for him. She died for
him in vicarious death but
Heracles 1 took her
back from the
Underworld, having
wrestled against
Thanatos (Death). Or
perhaps Persephone
just sent the loving wife up.
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Alcestis preparing to die
in her husband's place
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Parentage [two versions]
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Mate
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Offspring
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Notes
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Pelias
1 & Anaxibia 2
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Pelias
1 & Phylomache
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Genealogy tells that Anaxibia 2 was
daughter of Bias 1, son of Amythaon 1, son
of Cretheus 1 (again).
Phylomache is of Theban origin, a
daughter of
Amphion 1 and
Niobe 2, that is, she is to be counted
among the
NIOBIDS. Niobe
2 is daughter of the impious
Tantalus 1.
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Admetus 1
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Eumelus 1
Perimele 2
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Eumelus 1 became one the
SUITORS OF HELEN,
and one of the
ACHAEAN LEADERS
in the Trojan War
(leader of the Pheraeans). He is also found among
those who were inside the
WOODEN HORSE.
Eumelus 1 married Iphthime 1, a daughter of Icarius
1, that is, she was sister of
Penelope,
Odysseus' wife.
Perimele 2 was married to Argus 3, allegedly
builder of the Argo, the
ARGONAUTS' ship. After
their son Magnes 3, the district of Magnesia was
called.
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Abolengo
Album - High Resolution Genealogical Charts
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Names in this chart
Admetus 1, Aeolus 1,
Alcestis, Argus 3,
Athamas 1, Cretheus 1,
Deucalion 1, Eumelus
1, Hellen 1, Icarius 1, Iphthime 1, Magnes 3,
Odysseus,
Pelias 1,
Penelope, Perimele 2,
Pheres 1, Phrixus 1, Salmoneus, Tyro.
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