he goes into lamentation. It seems as if he begins understand the value of life, the very sanctity of which he has violated. The misery drives him to realize that life is nothing if you cant have happiness, but he would not have realized that without the pain that the death of Alcestis brought him. Admetos did not appreciate the happiness he enjoyed in life until confronted with the death of a loved one, someone who needed not die at all. Alcestis, in her death, understands that life is what matters because, as she states, the dead are nothing. What is life without death? What drives a person to live if they never need fear death?Admetos would let his life essentially end when his wife dies, or so he promises to. His intentions do not control his actions, instead he entertains guests. He also breaks the promise to not have another woman enter the house, in doing so he mocks the sanctity of the life lost, and the happiness that went with it. Through his misery he learns life is to be appreciated, but he does not understand this teaching due to his own ignorance. His realization is not reinforced due to his wifes return, so the new found wisdom of life is lost and changes nothing. The idea that one must suffer in order to be happy is a hard pill to swallow. The audience at the time might not have understood the magnitude of what Euripidies was trying to say: dwell not in pain and loss, but rather suffer though it and happiness will reign. Life is not without pain because pain is what makes life. We choose not our fate, our joys, or our pains. We live with the knowledge that bad things happen to good people, and that they can get over it and move on. To wallow in ones pain is not to live because the happiness that life brings will not be recognized unless we realize that without the suffering we would not have happiness. Once analyzed, this principle of Euripidies, holds much validity not matter if it is learned or not. ...
