Alcestis

Alcestis or Alceste was a princess in Greek mythology, known for her love of her husband. Her life story was told by pseudo-Apollodorus in his Bibliotheca, and a version of her death and return from the dead was also popularized in Euripides' tragedy Alcestis.
==Family==
Alcestis was the fairest among the daughters of Pelias, king of Iolcus, and either Anaxibia or Phylomache. She was sister to Acastus, Pisidice, Pelopia, and Hippothoe. Alcestis was the wife of Admetus by whom she bore a son, Eumelus, a participant in the siege of Troy, and a daughter, Perimele.
==Mythology==
Many suitors appeared before King Pelias and tried to woo Alcestis when she came of age to marry. It was declared by her father that she would marry the first man to yoke a lion and a boar (or a bear in some cases) to a chariot. King Admetus was able to do this because he was helped by Apollo, who had been banished from Olympus for one year to serve as a shepherd to Admetus. With Apollo's help, Admetus completed the challenge set by King Pelias and was allowed to marry Alcestis. But in a sacrifice after the wedding, Admetus forgot to make the required offering to Artemis, therefore when he opened the marriage chamber he found his bed full of coiled snakes. Admetus interpreted this as a portent of an early death.
Apollo again helped the newlywed king, this time by making the Fates drunk, extracting from them a promise that if anyone would want to die instead of Admetus, they would allow it. When the day of Admetus' death came near, no one volunteered, not even his elderly parents, but Alcestis came forward to die in place of her husband. As a token of his appreciation for Admetus' hospitality, Heracles rescued Alcestis from the underworld shortly after fighting with Thanatos.
==Gallery==
File:Alcestis and Admetus.jpg|Alcestis and Admetus, ancient Roman fresco (45-79 CE) from the House of the Tragic Poet, Pompeii, Italy (photo by Stefano Bolognini).
File:Herbert thomas dicksee--hercules wrestling with death for the soul of alcestis--1884.jpg|Herbert Thomas Dicksee, Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Soul of Alcestis, 1884, private collection.
File:Admetus Alcestis Chiaramonti Inv1195.jpg|Scenes from the myth of Admetus and Alcestis. Marble, sarcophagus of C. Junius Euhodus and Metilia Acte, 161-170 CE.
File:Farewell of Admetus & Alcestis.jpg|The Farewell of Admetus and Alcestis by George Dennis (1848)
File:Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis, by Frederic Lord Leighton, England, c. 1869-1871, oil on canvas - Wadsworth Atheneum - Hartford, CT - DSC05068.jpg|Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis by Frederic Lord Leighton, England (c. 1869-1871)
File:Alcesti.jpg|The Death of Alcestis by Angelica Kauffmann.
File:Jean-François-Pierre Peyron - Alceste mourante - WGA17394.jpg|Alceste mourante by Jean-Francois Pierre Peyron (1785)
File:Wall painting - Admetos and Alkestis receiving the oracle - Herculaneum - Napoli MAN 9026 - 01.jpg|Alcestis and Admetus, ancient Roman fresco (45-79 CE) from the House of the Tragic Poet, Pompeii, Italy
File:J H Tischbein dÄ Alkeste 2.jpg|Herkules entreißt Alkestis dem Totengott Thanatos und führt sie dem Admetus zu by Johann Heinrich Tischbein (circa 1780)
File:J H Tischbein dÄ Alkeste 1.jpg|Admetus beweint Alkeste by Johann Heinrich Tischbein (circa 1780)
Category:Princesses in Greek mythology
Category:Queens in Greek mythology
Category:Characters from Iolcus
Category:Suicides in Greek mythology