EURIPIDES' ALCESTIS - VEILED?

This paper offers a new dramaturgical reading of the final scene between Heracles and Admetus in Euripides' Alcestis. I contend that the positioning or "blocking" of the characters makes a major contribution to the humor of this scene in a play that is usually seen as a tragedy. The source of the scene's humor lies not only in Admetus's failure to recognize the wife for whom he has professed so much love, but in his constant attempts to see the face of the woman Heracles has brought back, and Heracles' equally determined moves to postpone the ultimate recognition scene.

It is now almost universally assumed that Alcestis is veiled when she returns from the Underworld. Nevertheless, there is absolutely no textual evidence for this presupposition. The text makes clear only that Admetus fails to see her clearly and cannot see but her robes. The scene may well have been staged to play up the comedy of Heracles trying to hide Alcestis from her inquisitive but dense husband by hiding her with his large body while Admetus, drawn by curiosity and desire, struggles to get a peek at her even as he protests that Heracles should not have brought a woman to him.

Hanna Roisman