tes, as she did
at Syracuse, the _Alkestis_ to her four friends. But she does more; she
comments on it, as she did not at Syracuse. The comments are, of course,
Browning's, but he means them to reveal Balaustion. They are touched
throughout with a woman's thought and feeling, inflamed by the poetic
genius with which Browning has endowed her. Balaustion is his deliberate
picture of genius the great miracle.

The story of the _Alkestis_ begins before the play. Apollo, in his
exile, having served King Admetos as shepherd, conceives a friendship
for the king, helps him to his marriage, and knowing that he is doomed
to die in early life, descends to hell and begs the Fates to give him
longer life. That is a motive, holding in it strange thoughts of life
and death and fate, which pleased Browning, and he treats it separately,
and with sardonic humour, in the Prologue to one of his later volumes.
The Fates refuse to lengthen Admetos' life, unless some one love him
well enough to die for him. They must have their due at the allotted
time.

The play opens when that time arrives. We see, in a kind of Prologue,
Apollo leaving the house of Admetos and Death coming to claim his
victim. Admetos has asked his father, mother, relations and servants to
die instead of him. None will do it; but his wife, Alkestis, does.
Admetos accepts her sacrifice. Her dying, her death, the sorrow of
Admetos is described with all the poignant humanity of Euripides. In the
meantime Herakles has come on the scene, and Admetos, though steeped in
grief, conceals--his wife's death and welcomes his friend to his house.
As Alkestis is the heroine of self-sacrifice, Admetos is the hero of
hospitality. Herakles feasts, but the indignant bearing of an old
servant attracts his notice, and he finds out the truth. He is shocked,
but resolves to attack Death himself, who is bearing away Alkestis. He
meets and conquers Death and brings back Alkestis alive to her husband.
So the strong man conquers the Fates, whom even Apollo could not subdue.

This is a fine subject. Every one can see in how many different ways it
may be treated, with what different conceptions, how variously the
characters may be built up, and what different ethical and emotional
situations may be imaginatively treated in it. Racine himself thought it
the finest of the Greek subjects, and began a play upon it. But he died
before he finished it, and ordered his manuscript to be destroyed. We
may we