At the dark stabling-place of the Sun He takes the sky of the Molossians As a bourne to his ploughing of fields, To the soils of his plains;He bears sway As far as the harbourless Coast of the Aegean Sea, As far as Pelion.
antistrophe 2
Even to-day he opened his house And received a guest, Though his eyelids were wet With tears wept by the corpse Of a dear bedfellow dead in the house.
For the noble spirit is proclaimed by honour;All wisdom lies with the good.
I admire him:
And in my soul I know The devout man shall have joy.
(The funeral procession of ALCESTIS enters from the door of the women's quarters. The body, carried on a bier by men servants, is followed by ADMETUS and his two children. Behind them comes a train of attendants and servants carrying the funeral offerings. All are in mourning. ADMETUS addresses the CHORUS.)ADMETUS
O friendly presence of you men of Pherae! Now that the body is prepared, and the servants bear it on high to the tomb and the fire, do you, as is fitting, salute the dead as she goes forth on her last journey.
(PHERES, the father of ADMETUS, enters, followed by attendants bearing funeral offerings.)LEADER OF THE CHORUS
But I see your father, tottering with an old man's walk, and his followers bearing in their hands for your wife garments as an offering to the dead.
PHERES
My son, I have come to share your sorrow, for the wife you have lost was indeed noble and virtuous-none can deny it. But these things must be endured, however intolerable they may be.
Take these garments, and let her descend under the earth. Her body must be honoured, for she died to save your life, my son; she has not made me childless, nor left me to be destroyed without you in my hapless old age; and she has given glorious fame to all women by daring so noble a deed! (He lifts his hand in salutation to the body of ALCESTIS.) O woman, who saved my son, who raised me up when I had fallen, hail! Be happy in the halls of Hades! I declare it-such marriages are profitable to mankind; otherwise, it is foolish to marry.
ADMETUS (furiously)