Admetus

Admetus was the king of Pherae in Thessaly, a son of Pheres. He is best known as the mortal master of the god Apollo during Apollo’s year of servitude, and as the husband for whom Alcestis agreed to die. He was also counted among the Argonauts and the hunters of the Calydonian boar.

Family

Pheres, a son of Cretheus, founded Pherae in Thessaly and was the father of Admetus and Lycurgus (Apollodorus, Library 1.9.14). Admetus married Alcestis, a daughter of Pelias of Iolcus, whom Homer calls the most beautiful of Pelias’ daughters. Their son Eumelus led the contingent from Pherae, Boebe, Glaphyrae and Iolcus, eleven ships, to Troy (Homer, Iliad 2.711–715). Eumelus drove the best mares in the army, which Apollo himself had reared in Pieria (Iliad 2.763–767), and he was the first to start in the chariot race for Patroclus (Iliad 23.288–289).

Apollo and Admetus

When Admetus ruled Pherae, Apollo served him as a servant (Apollodorus, Library 1.9.15). The reason Apollodorus gives is that Zeus killed Apollo’s son Asclepius with a thunderbolt, and Apollo in anger killed the Cyclopes, the makers of Zeus’ thunderbolt, Brontes, Steropes and Arges. As a punishment Zeus ordered him to serve a mortal for a year. Apollo came to Admetus, son of Pheres, at Pherae and worked as his herdsman, and he made all the cows drop twins (Apollodorus, Library 3.10.4). In Euripides, Apollo says that he killed the Cyclopes in anger at the death of Asclepius, and his father made him serve a mortal man in return, so that he came to this land, herded cattle for his host and kept the house safe, because Admetus was a pious man (Euripides, Alcestis 1–11).

Winning Alcestis

Pelias had promised to give his daughter to the man who could yoke a lion and a boar to a chariot. Apollo yoked the animals and gave them to Admetus, who brought them to Pelias and so obtained Alcestis. At the wedding sacrifice Admetus forgot Artemis, and when he opened the bridal chamber he found it full of coiled snakes; Apollo told him to appease the goddess (Apollodorus, Library 1.9.15).

Alcestis and the Fates

In Euripides’ Alcestis, Apollo saved Admetus from death by tricking the Fates, who agreed that Admetus could escape Hades at once if another person gave a corpse to the powers below in his place (Euripides, Alcestis 11–14). In Aeschylus’ Eumenides, the Furies reproach Apollo for this: in the house of Pheres he persuaded the Fates to make a mortal immortal, and deceived the ancient goddesses with wine (Aeschylus, Eumenides 723–728).

No one would take Admetus’ place except his wife Alcestis. In the play, she says that his father and mother had abandoned him: they were old, and it would have been right for them to die to save their only son (Euripides, Alcestis 280–298). When Pheres came to the funeral, Admetus reproached him for refusing to die in his son’s place, and Pheres answered that he owed his son no such sacrifice (Euripides, Alcestis 614–738). Plato also holds her up as the example of self-sacrifice: she alone was willing to die for her husband, though he had a father and a mother living, and the gods sent her soul back up from Hades in admiration of her deed (Plato, Symposium 179b–d).

Heracles in the House of Admetus

In Euripides, Heracles arrived at the palace on the way to fetch the mares of Diomedes at the command of Eurystheus (Euripides, Alcestis 476–483). Admetus welcomed him as a guest although his house was in mourning, because he would not turn away a friend (Euripides, Alcestis 509–556). When Heracles learned the truth, he resolved to wait for Death (Thanatos) at the tomb, seize him in an ambush and wrestle with him until he gave up the woman (Euripides, Alcestis 837–849). He returned with a veiled woman, and Admetus recognised her as Alcestis, restored to life, though she could not yet speak until she was purified for three days (Euripides, Alcestis 1006–1146). Apollodorus gives two versions of her return: Persephone sent her up again, or, as some say, Heracles fought with Hades and brought her back (Apollodorus, Library 1.9.15).

Admetus among the Heroes

Apollodorus lists Admetus, son of Pheres, of Pherae, among the hunters who joined Meleager against the Calydonian boar (Apollodorus, Library 1.8.2), and among the Argonauts (Apollodorus, Library 1.9.16). Apollonius says that Admetus, lord of Pherae rich in sheep, did not stay behind at the foot of Mount Chalcodonion but joined the voyage (Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.49–50).

Admetus Sources

Homer, Iliad 2.711–715, 2.763–767, 23.288–289; Apollodorus, Library 1.8.2, 1.9.14–16, 3.10.4; Euripides, Alcestis 1–14, 280–298, 476–483, 509–556, 614–738, 837–849, 1006–1146; Aeschylus, Eumenides 723–728; Plato, Symposium 179b–d; Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.49–50.

See Also: Argonauts, Apollo, Alcestis, Fates, Thanatos, Heracles, Pelias, Asclepius