Mourning Becomes Alcestis

This essay explores the role of mourning in Euripides’ Alcestis in relation to the thematics of identification in the play and in tragedy in general. Drawing on comparative texts, including Freud’s “Mourning and Melancholia,” it considers two topoi in the drama: first, that of a man mourning his first wife, and especially its peculiarity here, that the man firmly believes that she is dying in his place—that somehow she is he; second, that of a man anxiously taking a second wife, and especially its peculiarity, that the second wife turns out to be identical to the first wife—that somehow she is she. The essay engages both topoi for what they illuminate about identification and illusion in the play, but also metatheatrically about the role of identification and illusion for the audience of the play.