![]() And instead of a detective, I would have a psychotherapist. I searched for a way to update it and tell that story for years ― but it was only after I worked in a secure psychiatric unit that I had the idea of setting the story inside a psychiatric hospital with the structure of a detective story. This sense of being made to feel unworthy struck a chord with me. Is she overjoyed to see him? Or is she furious he allowed her to die for him? Something about this refusal to conclude, to explain, haunted me for years, as well as something about Alcestis herself ― she was sacrificed, deemed disposable by the man she loved most in the world. It’s not often performed largely, I think, because of this silence. It’s a problematic play for all kinds of reasons. But when Alcestis is reunited with her husband, she refuses to speak. In it, Alcestis dies to save her husband, Admetus ― and then is brought back to life by Heracles at the end of the play. ![]() ![]() I came across the tragedy Alcestis by Euripides when I was 13. The Greek myths are hard to escape, growing up in Cyprus, as I did ― you are taught Homer from the age of 13 in school ― and the tragedies are constantly being performed and reimagined. ![]()
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