The Alcestiad
1977
First Published
3.60
Average Rating
170
Number of Pages
In The Alcestaid Thornton Wilder retells for us the ancient legend of Alcestis, Queen of Thessaly, who gave her life for her husband Admetus, beloved of the Sun Apollo, and was brought back from Hell by Hercules. Wilder's Alcestis is a seeker after understanding, to whom "there is only misery, and that is ignorance." Her life as wife, mother, Queen—like Emily;s in Our Town—is apparently idyllic happiness is destroyed by death. But neither death or happiness is what it seems to be, and the tragedy id Apollo's "song in motion...an unfolding—a part of something larger than we can see." It is followed, according to Greek tradition, by a comic 'satyr' a one-act "diversion" in which Apollo, disguised as a kitchen-boy, confounds The Drunken Sisters—the Fates—to save the life of Admetus.
Avg Rating
3.60
Number of Ratings
53
5 STARS
19%
4 STARS
40%
3 STARS
28%
2 STARS
9%
1 STARS
4%
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Author
Thornton Wilder
Author · 26 books
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day. For more see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton...
