I've chosen a passage from Roberto Calasso's
The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony,starting from the bottom of page 71 and continuing to page 76. This passage is a reflection of Apollo's servitude under King Admetus, as well as Ademtus' trials and unveiling. I believe it also gives an insight to love and death as priorities in Greek mythology.
It was not often the Gods loved. They were frequented by desire, but rarely did they truly love. And true love is what Apollo felt towards Admetus, King of Pherea in Thessaly. Oh the feelings to be so eagerly wanted, especially by a god. A god whose aptitude of love is famous. Admetus is not loved so dearly by just Apollo, but lucky enough to have the love of Alcestis as well. Both of whom will save his life.
What made Admetus so special? How was he loved so immensely by two people? "We know that he was handsome, that he was famous for his herds of cattle, that he loved sumptuous feasts, and that he possessed the gift of hospitality" (Calasso 71). Not a bad profile. Here Calasso gives us our first and only needed hints of Admetus' true identity and we begin our tale. Apollo has been banished to a 'great year' (9 years) of servitude under a mortal for the killing of Zeus' weaponsmith, the Cyclops. "For a God, the equivalent of death: exile" (73). Yet Apollo was willing to tarnish himself and his reputation for his love. He submitted himself to servitude under Admetus. Taking the role as herdsman to the king, he forsake his looks and lyre. During the course of his love Apollo, not only tampers with Admetus' fate, but sets an all time low for the Gods. Apollo's submission to a mortal is a shameful feat, and he maximizes it by accepting payment from his beloved. This reduced the god to the equivalent of a prostitute, someone "unprotected by any rights...considered the worst of all perverts, in whose defense no one in Greece ever ventured to speak so much as a word" (73). To be so disgraced was an astonishment, but Apollo again teases with exile when he intoxicates the Fates for Admetus.
As all do, Ademtus' had an impending doom. Not wanting to lose his beloved, Apollo finds a way to get the Fates drunk. A tricky task, but upon completion, the intoxicated Fates agree that they will deter Admetus' death if someone is willing to die in his place. With the happy news, Apollo tells Admetus of the compromise, who immediately sets about asking friends and family to die in his place. None are willing. This flabbergasts Admetus. None except his young and beautiful wife, Alcestis. Its Alcestis' act that sets the pinnacle for
philia, "that friendship that grows out of love," only thought to be achievable by men (73). Alcestis, by "simply agreeing to die, with no hope of return or salvation," surpasses any known love and represents the only case of female
philia in Greek mythology. Now Admetus as been saved twice. Once by Apollo's party with the Fates, and secondly by Alcestis' ultimate sacrifice.
Though happy to be alive Admetus soon becomes stricken with grief and deems his life worth less than Alcestis'. Due to the impressive showing of sacrifice by his wife, the Gods decree that Alcestis can be saved, and allow Heracles to rescue her from the land of the dead. Heracles agrees to help as compensation to Admetus for his hospitality. His most forth coming trait. Admetus "has been saved on three occasions: by a god, a woman, and by a hero"(74). Why would people of such importance go to such lengths for a mere man? Purely out of his hospitality. And it is here that Calasso, unveils Admetus for what he truly is: Death.
First, Calasso asks us to investigate the landscape of Thessaly. This is also where we encounter an amazingly well-written paragraph. The presiding deity of Thessaly is Pheraia, the night-roaming, torch-wielding, underworld goddess. She also happens to be the daughter of Admetus. Though the land is adjacent to Mount Olympus, the "Olympians are loath to descend...the horses that gallop around Thessaly are creatures of the deep...they are the dead, brilliantly white, brilliantly black...it is the luxuriant country of the dead" (75). Nine years, the length of Apollo's exile on earth, is one time cycle in the Underworld. Here Calasso leads us to the end of his intricate breadcrumb trail. We know that Admetus is attractive. Well of course, he is a god after all. We know that Admetus is hospitable. "Who could be more hospitable than the king of the dead? His is the inn that never closes its doors to no one" (76). Proving an excellent point, no one escapes death. It shows no biases and no judgement, accepting all into its fold. We know Admetus has massive herds "and no one has such numerous herds as the king of the dead" (76). The herds, the black and white horses, literally are the dead. Either dead animals or humans, no one would have a larger herd than of all the beings who died before. Being the ruler of the dead is also the reason for his surprise when no one agrees to die for him. People agree all the time to his divine form but this is a new feeling as a mortal. The nail in the coffin is the definition of own name, Admetus: indomitable. "And who is more indomitable than the lord of the dead?" (75)
We now see that Apollo is infatuated with death and will know such pleasure and pain forever. It is his fate. Whether through the death of his previous lovers, Hyacinthus, his lovers he condemned to death, Coronis, his love of death, Admetus, and his future with death, patricide of Zeus. Apollo is considered the most luminous son, it is ironic his playfulness with the darkness of death. Admetus' other lover also gains a new identity. Alcestis is hinted to being none other than Persephone, the goddess whisked away by Hades while picking narcissi. Her identity magnifies her sacrifice, giving up throne and immortality for her husband. It is for the loss of his true love that Admetus becomes so distraught over his queen's sacrifice. Viewed in atypical role, the death god "is not just an abductor but a lover too" (76).
