Alcestis by Euripides

E121513

ancient Greek play stage drama tragedy

"Alcestis" is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides that dramatizes the story of a devoted wife who volunteers to die in place of her husband and is later rescued from death by Heracles.

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All labels observed (9)

Label	Occurrences
Alcestis	3
Alcestis by Euripides canonical	2
Alcestis (play)	1
Euripides' play Alcestis	1
Euripides, Alcestis	1
Euripides: Alcestis (translation)	1
Euripides’ Alcestis	1
Euripides’ play Alcestis	1
myth of Alcestis	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1032245 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Alcestis by Euripides
Context triple: [Alcmene, mentionedIn, Alcestis by Euripides]

A. Hecuba (Euripides)
Hecuba (Euripides) is a Greek tragedy by Euripides that portrays the suffering and vengeance of the Trojan queen Hecuba after the fall of Troy.
B. Trojan Women (Euripides)
Trojan Women is a tragedy by Euripides that portrays the suffering and despair of the women of Troy in the aftermath of the city's destruction in the Trojan War.
C. Iphigenia in Aulis (Euripides)
Iphigenia in Aulis is a tragedy by Euripides that dramatizes Agamemnon’s agonizing decision to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to secure favorable winds for the Greek fleet sailing to Troy.
D. Philoctetes (Sophocles)
Philoctetes (Sophocles) is a classical Greek tragedy by Sophocles that dramatizes the moral and psychological conflict surrounding the marooned archer Philoctetes during the final phase of the Trojan War.
E. Antigone
Antigone is a tragic heroine from Greek mythology and Sophocles’ Theban plays, known for defying royal authority to honor her family and the gods.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Alcestis by Euripides
Target entity description: "Alcestis" is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides that dramatizes the story of a devoted wife who volunteers to die in place of her husband and is later rescued from death by Heracles.

A. Hecuba (Euripides)
Hecuba (Euripides) is a Greek tragedy by Euripides that portrays the suffering and vengeance of the Trojan queen Hecuba after the fall of Troy.
B. Trojan Women (Euripides)
Trojan Women is a tragedy by Euripides that portrays the suffering and despair of the women of Troy in the aftermath of the city's destruction in the Trojan War.
C. Iphigenia in Aulis (Euripides)
Iphigenia in Aulis is a tragedy by Euripides that dramatizes Agamemnon’s agonizing decision to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to secure favorable winds for the Greek fleet sailing to Troy.
D. Philoctetes (Sophocles)
Philoctetes (Sophocles) is a classical Greek tragedy by Sophocles that dramatizes the moral and psychological conflict surrounding the marooned archer Philoctetes during the final phase of the Trojan War.
E. Antigone
Antigone is a tragic heroine from Greek mythology and Sophocles’ Theban plays, known for defying royal authority to honor her family and the gods.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	ancient Greek play ⓘ stage drama ⓘ tragedy ⓘ
associatedDeity	Apollo ⓘ
associatedMythCycle	Admetus and Alcestis myth ⓘ
author	Euripides ⓘ
centralTheme	death and rebirth ⓘ hospitality (xenia) ⓘ marital devotion ⓘ self-sacrifice ⓘ the nature of heroism ⓘ
characterizationFeature	blend of tragic and comic elements ⓘ
choralMeter	various lyric meters in choral odes ⓘ
dramaticDevice	Heracles as a comic yet heroic savior ⓘ
dramaticInnovation	use of a tragic play in the satyr-play position ⓘ
ethicalQuestion	obligations between parents and children ⓘ value of self-sacrifice in marriage ⓘ
featuresCharacter	Admetus' father Pheres ⓘ Apollo ⓘ Chorus of citizens of Pherae ⓘ King Admetus of Pherae ⓘ linked to: Admetus Thanatos (Death) ⓘ linked to: Thanatos servants of Admetus ⓘ
firstPerformanceDate	438 BC ⓘ
firstPerformanceFestival	City Dionysia ⓘ
firstPerformancePlace	Athens ⓘ
genre	satyr-influenced tragedy ⓘ tragedy ⓘ
influenced	Alceste by Christoph Willibald Gluck ⓘ later European drama ⓘ operatic adaptations ⓘ
language	Ancient Greek ⓘ
literaryForm	verse drama ⓘ
literaryPeriod	Classical Athens ⓘ
mainCharacter	Admetus ⓘ Alcestis (mythological figure) ⓘ linked to: Alcestis (mythological queen) Heracles ⓘ Thanatos ⓘ
meter	primarily iambic trimeter in dialogue ⓘ
mythicMotif	descent to the realm of Death ⓘ substitutionary death ⓘ
mythologicalSource	Greek mythology ⓘ
originalPerformanceContext	Athenian tragedy ⓘ
partOfCorpus	Euripidean corpus ⓘ
plotSummary	Alcestis volunteers to die in place of her husband Admetus and is later rescued from Death by Heracles ⓘ
replacedGenreInTetralogy	satyr play ⓘ
setting	Pherae in Thessaly ⓘ linked to: Pherae
structure	prologue, parodos, episodes, stasima, exodos ⓘ
survivalStatus	extant complete play ⓘ
tetralogyPosition	fourth play ⓘ

How these facts were elicited