APOLLO
House of Admetus, where I had the courage to sit
at the table for slaves, even though I am a god.
Zeus is to blame --he killed my son Asclepius
with a lightning bolt to the heart. So I snuffed out the smiths
who made him his bolts, the one-eyed Cyclopes.
As a punishment, Father Zeus made me pay for that
by sending me here, to become a slave to a mortal.
So I'm a cattle rancher on this man's land
and have kept preserving his house to this very minute:
I am devoted to this devoted man,
the son of Pheres, and saved his life by cheating
the Fates, who permitted Admetus to get away free
from immediate Death, if only he could provide
another person to die for him. So he went
to all his loved ones, imploring them one by one:
first he asked his father, and then his mother,
but they both turned him down, and the only one
who was willing to take his place was his wife, Alcestis.
Now she's holding on inside the house,
but her soul is slipping away, for today's the day
appointed and set aside for him to die.
I, of course, will be leaving this house that I love,
to avoid coming in contact with Death's pollution.
-
(looks off stage left)
Oh! He's already here. I see him coming,
the priest of the dead, to take her down to the House
of Hades. He's always early; he's come to keep
a careful death-watch over her dying day.
-
(enter THANATOS, stage left)
THANATOS
Aarrgghh!
What are you doing here, Phoebus Apollo?
Committing another crime against the Dead?
lying to stake a claim where you don't belong?
Wasn't it enough for you to obstruct
the fate of Admetus by tripping and cheating the Fates?
Now you're going to use your bow and your arrows
to try to protect his wfe, in spite of her promise?
APOLLO
Don't get excited. I'm here by law, and I'm clean.
THANATOS
If you're so clean, then why the heavy artillery?
APOLLO
This is my bow: I always carry my bow.
THANATOS
You always favor the house of Admetus unfairly.
APOLLO
I care very deeply about my friend's misfortunes.
THANATOS
So now you're going to steal a second corpse?
APOLLO
I never stole the first one.
THANATOS
-
Then how does it happen
that he is alive and well, and not with the Dead?
APOLLO
He made a trade: you get his lady instead.
THANATOS
He did, and I do, and I'm taking her with me, now!
APOLLO
Then take her and go. I probably couldn't persuade you...
THANATOS
To what? To do my job and kill the condemned?
APOLLO
No, just postpone death for someone who's going to die anyway. THANATOS
Now, I see what you really mean! APOLLO
Can't you put off her death for a few short years.
THANATOS
No! I'm here by law, and I like my job!
APOLLO
Now or later, you still only get one corpse.
THANATOS
Yes, but the young are a greater prize than the old.
APOLLO
Let her live, and she'll die a richer woman.
THANATOS
Phoebus, you're writing a law to favor the rich.
APOLLO
What do you mean? Are you trying to outsmart me? THANATOS
It's just that the rich would be able to buy the right to die old.
APOLLO
Couldn't you do this for me, as a special favor?
THANATOS
Not a chance. You know me - you know who I am.
APOLLO
I know you're despised by mortals and gods alike.
THANATOS
Apollo, you must not have what you cannot have!
APOLLO
No matter how fierce you are, someone shall stop you:
the man for the job is on his way here, as we speak,
to be a guest at the house of Admetus, and forcibly
rescue Queen Alcestis. And you shall be forced
to give her up without my thanks, and without
reducing the utter hatred I feel for you.
-
(exit stage right)
THANATOS
Talk is cheap. The lady is going with me.
Now the rites begin, with the touch of my sword:
and when this blade makes contact with her hair,
it sanctifies her to the gods below.
(exit THANATOS into the palace, as CHORUS enter from stage right
and stage left)