Admetus
Publié le 22/02/2012
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Greek King of Phera in Thessaly; one of
the Argonauts. Admetus was a kind master to Apollo,
who had been his slave as a punishment for killing the
Cyclops. When Apollo heard that Admetus was soon
Achelous
to die, Apollo went to the Fates and persuaded them
to prolong Admetus's life. They agreed, on condition
that someone else should be sent in his stead. Not
even the parents of Admetus would give up their
lives. His faithful wife, Alcestis, agreed to do so. She
took a drink of poison and went down to Hades, but
Persephone refused to let her stay. She sent her back
to her husband and children. Another version of the
story says that Heracles went to the Underworld
and wrestled with Hades for the life of Alcestis.
The story is the subject of a play, Alcestis, by
Euripides, and an opera, Alceste, by the German
composer Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787).