Alcestis (play)

Alcestis
Alcestis and Admetus Ancient Roman fresco (45–79 AD)
Written by	Euripides
Chorus	Old men
Characters	Apollo Thanatos / Death Maidservant Alcestis Admetus Eumelus Heracles Servant Pheres
Date premiered	438 BC
Place premiered	Athens
Original language	Ancient Greek
Genre	Tragedy
Setting	Pherae in Thessaly

Alcestis (/ælˈsɛstɪs/; Greek: Ἄλκηστις, Alkēstis) is an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides.^[1] It was first produced at the City Dionysia festival in 438 BC. Euripides presented it as the final part of a tetralogy of unconnected plays in the competition of tragedies, for which he won second prize; this arrangement was exceptional, as the fourth part was normally a satyr play.^[2] Its ambiguous, tragicomic tone—which may be "cheerfully romantic" or "bitterly ironic"—has earned it the label of a "problem play."^[3] Alcestis is, possibly excepting the Rhesus, the oldest surviving work by Euripides, although at the time of its first performance he had been producing plays for 17 years.^[4]