Dea. Phœbus, the law thou layest down is all in favour of the rich.
Apo. What mean'st thou? art so wise, and I never knew it?
Dea. Those who have wealth would buy the chance of their dying old.
Apo. It seems then thou wilt not grant me this favour.
Dea. Not I; my customs well thou knowest.
Apo. That I do, customs men detest and gods abhor.
Dea. Thou canst not realise every lawless wish.
Apo. Mark me, thou shalt have a check for all thy excessive fierceness; such a hero shall there come to Pheres' halls, by Eurystheus sent to fetch a team of steeds from the wintry world of Thrace; he, a guest awhile in these halls of Admetus, will wrest this woman from thee by sheer force. So wilt thou get no thanks from me but yet wilt do this all the same, and earn my hatred too.[1]
Dea. Thou wilt not gain thy purpose any the more for all thy many words; that woman shall to Hades' halls go down, I tell thee. Lo! I am going for her, that with the sword I may begin my rites, for he whose hair this sword doth hallow is sacred to the gods below.
Semicho. I.[2] What means this silence in front of the palace? why is the house of Admetus stricken dumb?
Semicho. II. Not one friend near to say if we must mourn our queen as dead, or if she liveth yet and sees the sun, Alcestis, daughter of Pelias, by me and all esteemed the best of wives to her husband.
Semicho. I. Doth any of you hear a groan, or sound of hands that smite together, or the voice of lamentation, telling all is over and done? Yet is there no servant sta-
