Suppose you have just seen the first Athenian production of Euripides' Alcestis. Write a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" review of the production as you imagine it.Include in your review responses to earlier reviewers if you like.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
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I give Euripides' Alcestis a thumbs up. It delves into the nature of a man's love for his wife, and a woman's love for a man. She was willing to die for him, and he was willing to do anything to bring her back. I wouldn't say I like it any better than Aeschylus or Sophocles plays, but I will say that it is different. The way Euripides split the play into acts and set aside special time for the choruses was unique and helped map out the plot well. Overall, it was a thumbs up and a very good play.
ReplyDeleteTwo thumbs up for Euripies' Alcestis! It is a classic tale of love and what lengths people are willing to go to to protect the ones they love. I think that Euripies along with Aeschylus and Sophocles are great playwrites that know how to capture their audience with the words they write and the characters they choose. Thumbs up for greek playwrites!
ReplyDeleteI, like Maxwell, give Alcestis two thumbs up. Euripides certainly went a different route than his contemporaries. He broke up this play into episodes, with their own names. He also began the play with a prologue which was an episode all it's own, rather than just a brief "rundown" before the play. I also enjoyed how gods were always trying to fool eachother. While the play may not have been as excited as the previous works we have read, this certainly was interesting.
ReplyDeleteI also give this story two thumbs up. I like this play because it has a hero in it. Heracles is a great hero and there is also a romantic love story for the woman while there is suspense for the men. This is also an interesting story that keeps the readers attention. Overall a very good play.
ReplyDeleteI give this play a thumbs up. I like that this play shows how strong love can be between two people. I also like that it has some interesting twists that leaves you wondering what the outcome will be. I found it very entertaining and fun to read.
ReplyDeleteExcellant play.
-Brianna Hamil
I would give this play a thumbs up becuase it has everything a good drama should have in it, a hero and a love where people are willing to give their lives for the ones they love and story with a mystery that keeps you guessing.
ReplyDeleteI would give Euripides' Alcestis a mediocre thumps up. The play is alright but I would not put it in the same league as the other plays we have written. If Admetus loved his wife as much as he says he does why doesn't he except his place in Hades instead of passing it on to his wife or blaming his father. I agreed with what Pheres said that Admetus was being a coward expecting other people to die for him.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there was a distinct lack of drama in Alcetis compared to the others we have read. Losing a loved one is a part of life that everyone experiences. Plus, in the end everything went back to the way it was. The ending made the events throughout the story less important. However, I don't want to make it sound bad because it was well written and interesting. I just don't think it was as good as Aeschylus or Sophocles.
I would give Alcestis two thumbs up. It had many elements that I like in a movie. It included a good amount of:
ReplyDeleteRomance - The love of Alcestis and Admetus for eachother was outstanding. Alcestis even sacrificed herself to save Admetus' life. This leads to the next element.
Sorrow(tragedy) - Admetus was mourning throughout the entire play, not to mention Alcestis (while she was alive) and their children.
Conflict - Pheres, Admetus' father, was declaring that Alcestis be happy in the Hall of Hades. Sure he meant well, but it was at her funeral, and it was something Admentus didn't want to hear. Needless to say, he quarreled with and basically disowned himself as son of Pheres and kicked him off his lands.
Mythology - Apollo, Death, and Heracles were all included in the story. I just love mythological characters in the stories I read. Especially deities and universal forces (Death, but in this case he is an upper god)
Friendship - There is a great act of friendship when Heracles decides to get Alcestis back for Admentus when he hears of her death.
Happy Ending - It was slightly ridiculous waiting for the build up to the ending. I knew that the veiled woman was Alcestis, and yet it took forever for the unveiling.
All these elements made for a great play to read.
~Aaron Johnston
I would give it a thumbs up, the dialogue in the beginning introduces into the play and what is happening. The language in my translation still was a little murky and hard to understand. It also uses Catharsis as well. It shows a great love between Admetus and Alcestis, such as showing the promises that are between the two and also how Admetus promises that Alcestis is the only woman for him and will not marry any other woman after she is gone. This if was being watched by the people of Athens would have shown a good example of how a man and women are supposed to treat one another.
ReplyDeleteJoseph Adam
I give Alcestis two thumbs up. It has what a story needs, comic relief, a hero, a quest and a happy ending, but it shines more in its organization. The play is able to move through several episodes from prologue to exodus as the story unfolds. It gives the story much more movement and breadth to be able to "take a breath" between scene changes. That movement helps us to feel the ups and downs. We see the spat between Apollo and Death, then move to the death of Alcestis, then the arrival of Heracles and his party in the guest house, the argument with Admetus' father, and finally Heracles brings Alcestis back to Admetus.
ReplyDeleteThe wide range of episodes deepens the story significantly and allows us greater insight into the range of emotions of the main characters and the layers that they add to the story - Admetus' anger at his aged father, Heracles' embarassment for his inappropriate party, the grief of the family at the loss of wife and mother, and Heracles heroic return. The episodes help us to remain engaged with the story and to explore several facets of the loss and eventual return of a loved one.
I give it a thumbs up. The story is very good. It covers the whole emotional spectrum; love and loss, dispair and joy, anger and shame. It tells a story of true love and just how far people would be willing to go to save it, even if it meant dying for the one you loved. It doesn't get much better than that.
ReplyDeleteAs a farce, I'd have to give this play a thumbs up rating. Apollo begins the play boasting of the good deed he has done for his host in "saving" him from Death, by opening the way for a substitution. Euripides does a fine job portraying the weakness of men, which is the whole point of a farce: Admetus is willing to allow someone else to die for him, but spends the play mourning HIS plight in losing his wife. He makes fine promises to her as she is dying, but goes back on his word nearly immediately. His father begins by condescending to mourn, but he, obviously, is not sorry it was Alcestis who died, rather than himself. Even the "hero" in the play, Heracles, is flawed. He is ignorant, inattentive, and totally oblivious to those around him.
ReplyDeleteAs a tragedy, however, it is a little difficult to take this one seriously. I have to disagree with the other reviews which promote Alcestis as a great story of love and loss. While the title character does obviously prove her love, she sacrifices herself for a weak, egotistical individual. Admetus is less absorbed by true grief over her death than he is by self pity. There is potentially a good moral here, that one will rue a selfish, hasty decision. But unlike other tragic characters from the Greek playwrights, Admetus doesn't have long at all to suffer, thanks to Heracles. This is why I have to conclude this play was intended as a comedy of errors, rather than a tragedy. "All's well that ends well!"
Alcestis gets a thumbs up. Not only was it well written but it pulls in your interest right away and holds it. Starting out with the death of loved one, it sets a rather sad tone, but the characters introduced from here in keep one wondering what is going to happen in the end. Euripides did a very good job at capturing ones imagination and attention and satisfying there thoughts in the end.
ReplyDeleteAlcestis gets a thumbs up and thumbs down; thumbs up because it was a story of love and the characters with compassion help the story as well, and the reason for a thumns down is because it was dry and long to get to the reviving of Alcestis and in my eyes the obvious Alcestis was going to comeback, but all in all worth of watching(imagining)/reading great story.
ReplyDeleteI would give Alcestis a thumbs up. This play tells/shows how emotional the characters get because of the loss of people they love and are important to them. Pretty much anyone can connect to this play because at some point we/they have lost someone important to us/them. Although they probably would not go as far as some of the characters did in the play, but the loss of someone is about the same.
ReplyDeleteI would give this play a thumbs up. It shows some really good points about people trying to help each other out and in doing so may hurt them worse. The first point like this is when Apollo boasts that he had saved his master from death by substituting another person. The other person happened to be his wife, which is bitter sweet for the King. Also when Heracles arrives and Admetus is too proud to turn him away. He welcomes him and Heracles is drinking and celebrating while the kingdom mourns. And finally when Heracles brings Alcestis back from Hades is also bitter sweet because Admetus has already taken a new women when his wife returns.
ReplyDeleteBaker Haar
Alcestis gets a thumbs up. Even with the Greek stage having only one set that doesn't change, the servants do an excellent job of letting us as the audience know what is going on inside which gives us an overall look of the play regardless. Heracles as both a drunken comedian and a hero makes the play both hilarious and satisfying. While swaying and talking the servant about 'life' we also get a much better feel for the mourning that is taking place, which ties his successful rescue attempt together very well and makes it very triumphant. No wonder it won second place out of the tetrology at the City Dionysia festival. Excellent lines for Alcestis depicting her struggle with dying made the deal with the Fates seem iffy, and added a lot to the over all effect of the drama. Admetus's lines really portrayed his egotistical attitude and at the same time showed how noble and respectful his wife was and how much he loves her. Death's costume really showed his evil intent and his lines gave me chills. Admetus's sideways comments to him gave suspense because during their confrontation anything could have happened. This was (other than the prophecy) totally unpredictable so therefore an awesome show.
ReplyDelete- Jefferson Gunderson
I give Euripides' Alcestis one thumb’s up. The play wasn’t a personal favorite but it was a fairly interesting love story. I thought the most amusing parts of the play were the scene where Alcestis lies on her death bed, requesting that Admetus never takes another wife. Especially during this society where frequently men have multiple wives at one time, I think this storyline sends a good message to the audience and is a reminder for the sacredness of fidelity and marriage. I also enjoyed the happy ending where Heracles brings Alcestis back to Admetus. This scene portrays another important quality of friendship; Heracles sees his friend grieving over his lost wife and does all he can to rectify the situation.
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