6 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche 



We should expect that Admetus' friends having heard of the 

 predicted fate of Alcestis, instead of praying desperately : "O 

 Zeus ! O Healer-king ! " would have acted and hurried to rescue 

 the queen from her fate and tell her and Admetus that the " fatal 

 day " will bring no further harm whatever. Their way of acting 

 can be explained only by assuming that they were entirely under 

 the influence of the traditional belief in oracular prediction. 



A notable specimen of vision is found in the following verses 

 where Alcestis in language exceedingly pathetic describes the 

 apparition of Charon and Hades : 



Ale. 252-63 : 



OpCO dlKCOTTOV bpCi (7Kh.4>0S 



veKVLov be 7rop??/x€us 



exu>v X^P' ^"""t KovTic 'Kapuv /x' 77677 KoXei; k. t. X. 



dyei fx ayet. jxk rts, ovx opas', 



veKvcov es avXay 



vw' 6(f)pvai, Kvavavyeai ^'keircjov Trrepwros AtSas 



Tt pe^ets; iibd^es. o'iav 



686v a 5etXatoTdra irpopaivcc. 



" I see the boat with the oars twin-sweeping, 

 And his hand on the pole as in haste aye keeping, 

 Charon, the Ferryman calleth, ' What ho, wilt thou linger and 



linger? 

 Hasten, — 'tis thou dost delay me ! ' he crieth with beckoning 



finger. 



One haleth me — haleth me Iience to the mansion 



Of the dead! — dost thou mark not the darkling expansion 



Of the pinions of Hades, the blaze of his eyes 'neath their 



caverns out-glaring-! 

 What wouldst thou ? — Unhand me ! — In anguish and pain by 



what path am I faring ! " 



A " vision " is that which is seen otherwise than by the ordinary 

 sight ; it may be an imaginary, supernatural, or prophetic sight. 

 In this case it is an imaginary vision. While none of those pres- 

 ent are aware of the apparition, Alcestis hears the Ferryman call 

 her and sees winged Hades beckon. Such fancies are nothing 

 unusual in a woman who is approaching inevitable death and has 

 gone already through a prolonged series of fatiguing devotions 

 and harrowing farewells, from weakness to exhaustion, and 



60 



