by at least some members of the audience. Before Hector leaves his wife Andromache for battle in an attempt to win ʹμέγα κλέοςʹ (great glory), 4 she calls him her ʹπατὴρʹ (father) and ʹπότνια μήτηρ’ (revered mother), as well as her ʹκασίγνητοςʹ (brother) and ʹθαλερὸς παρακοίτηςʹ (tender husband) since all her other family is dead. 5 Similarly, Admetus declares of Alcestis in a speech against his father that ʹἣν ἐγὼ καὶ μητέρα / καὶ πατέρ᾽ ἂν ἐνδίκως ἂν ἡγοίμην μόνηνʹ (It is she, and no one else, that I should rightly call / Both mother and father) 6 due to his parents' refusal to die on his behalf. Since both Hector and Alcestis take on multiple familial roles as not only a spouse but also as a 'mother' and 'father', Euripides' echo of the famous Iliadic scene reinforces the courage and substance of Alcestis' character in the comparison to one of the great heroes, Hector, despite being a woman. While Hector wins 'kleos' fighting and ultimately dying for his city and family, Alcestis also gains 'kleos' for dying for her family. Although Alcestis dies for her husband Admetus, giving up her life but receiving glory for her decision, she is brought back to Admetus alive thanks to Heracles' wrestling with Death. So it seems that where in the Iliad Achilles, and even Hector, had to surrender their youthful lives for everlasting glory, Alcestis is rewarded for her loyalty by keeping her life and gaining glory,. Furthermore, the importance of 'kleos' in both of these episodes highlights the connection of the two separate myths. While Hector is obsessed with gaining 'kleos', arguably to an objectionable extent, when he predicts that some man may one day say of Andromache that ' Ἕκτορος ἥδε γυνὴ ὃς ἀριστεύεσκε μάχεσθαι/ Τρώων ἱπποδάμων ὅτε Ἴλιον ἀμφεμάχοντοʹ ( This is the wife of Hector, who was always the greatest/ of the horse-breaking Trojans, when they fought around Ilium), 7 putting his own reputation before his wife's well-fare without him. Both Alcestis and Admetus ponder 'kleos', though only the potential fame of Admetus' parents, as Alcestis says ʹκαίτοι σ᾽ ὁ φύσας χἠ τεκοῦσα προύδοσαν, / καλῶς μὲν αὐτοῖς κατθανεῖν ἧκον βίου, / καλῶς δὲ σῶσαι παῖδα κεὐκλεῶς θανεῖνʹ (your father and your mother, who / Were of an age to die honoured by everyone, / And could have saved their son and gained a glorious death'). 8 Admetus raises a similar issue with Pheres, criticizing him for prioritizing his enjoyment of old age over his heir and glory. Moreover, since 'kleos' is a hereditary concept, passed from one generation to another through a family, Pheres would have disregarded his honour and family's lineage by allowing his only son to die. Admetus also notes that Alcestis is ' γυνα ῖ κ ᾽ ὀ θνειʆ αν ' (a foreign woman) 9 to highlight that while Pheres is unwilling to die for his son heir to Thessaly over which he rules, Alcestis has a further ethnic reason not to substitute her life for Admetus' but does so anyway. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether Alcestis chooses to die for future fame or to honour and do her duty to her husband. The servant reports that while addressing her marriage-bed Alcestis cries out that 'π ροδο ῦ ναι γαʆ ρ σ ᾽ ὀ κνο ῦ σα κα ὶ π οʆ σιν θν ῄ σκω ' (for I alone would not be false to you / And to my husband; and for this I die). 10 Euripides' omission of 'kleos' regarding her decision to die possibly makes her even more admirable as her justification for her sacrifice seems far less egotistical than the want of eternal fame, unlike Achilles or Hector in the Iliad who die for their names and little other cause. However, ancient authors considered Alcestis' motive for dying and not all share this view. Plato questions this through a speech of cynicism by Diotima in his Symposium in which she says: ʹἐπεὶ οἴει σύ... Ἄλκηστιν ὑπὲρ Ἀδμήτου ἀποθανεῖν ἄν... μὴ οἰομένους ἀθάνατον μνήμην ἀρετῆς πέρι ἑαυτῶν ἔσεσθαι, ἣν νῦν ἡμεῖς ἔχομεν; πολλοῦ γε δεῖ... ἀλλ᾽ οἶμαι ὑπὲρ ἀρετῆς ἀθανάτου καὶ τοιαύτης δόξης εὐκλεοῦς πάντες πάντα ποιοῦσιν: τοῦ γὰρ ἀθανάτου ἐρῶσιν.ʹ (Do you suppose... that Alcestis would have died for Admetus if [she] had not expected to win ‘a deathless memory for valor,’ which now we keep? Of course not. I hold it is for immortal distinction and for such illustrious renown as this that they all do all they can. They are in love with what is immortal.) 11 Another word related to
4 Hom. Il. 6.446 (trans. Anthony Verity) 5 Hom. Il. 6.429-31 (trans. Anthony Verity) 6 Eur. Alc. 646-7 (trans. Philip Vellacott) 7 Hom. Il. 6.460-1 (trans. Anthony Verity) 8 Eur. Alc. 290-3 (trans. Philip Vellacott) 9 Eur. Alc. 646 (trans. Philip Vellacott) 10 Eur. Alc. 180 (trans. Philip Vellacott) 11 Plat. Sym. 208d-e (trans. Harold N. Fowler)
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