Alcestis. Daughter of Peleus, Alcestis was the wife of Admetus, king of Pherae in Thessaly. When she had come of age to marry, her father would give her only to a suitor who could harness wild beasts (according to Boeotian legend, a lion and a boar) to a chariot. Admetus performed this amazing feat with the help of Apollo, who had been acting as the king’s herdsman while in exile from Olympus. According to Apollodorus, at the wedding feast, Admetus forgot to sacrifice to Artemis and was therefore destined to live only a short time. Apollo again intervened and persuaded the Fates to prolong Admetus’s life if someone else would die on his behalf. According to Euripides, no one, not even his mother or father, would undertake such a sacrifice except Alcestis. She left her children and sorrowing husband and departed for Hades. However, she was rescued from Thanatos (Death) by Heracles and restored to her husband; Apollodorus says that Persephone released her from Hades. The subject is popular in postclassical drama and opera, but rarely depicted in art; when it is, the scene is often Heracles wrestling Thanatos for possession of Alcestis. Classical Sources. Euripides, Alcestis. Plato, Symposium I79bj—i79di. Apollodorus, Biblioteca i.9.14—15. Hyginus, Fabulae 50-51. Further Reference. E. M. Butler, “Alkestis in Modem Dress,” Journal of the Warburg Institute 1 (1957—38): 46— 60.