Alcestis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The wife of Admetus in Greek legend, who gave up her life so that her husband could live ; a tragic play by Euripides dramatizing this sacrifice
2. A devoted queen of ancient myth who volunteered to die in her husband's place ; an ancient Greek drama by Euripides that retells her story
3. Alcestis was the Thessalian princess who offered herself in death for Admetus ; the title of a surviving tragedy by Euripides centered on her

Etymology: Alcestis is the name of a woman in Greek myth who gave her life so her husband, King Admetus of Pherae, could live, and who was brought back from death by Heracles. The name itself is a Greek personal name, usually explained as deriving from roots meaning "strength" and "to ward off" or "defend," though its exact etymology is not firmly settled. In English it is essentially a learned borrowing, used as a proper noun for the character and for the tragedy Euripides staged about her in 438 BCE, the earliest surviving version of the story. The myth gave the English language little beyond the name, which turns up in scholarly and literary contexts, and in the astronomy and naming conventions that draw on classical figures. Because the tale of a wife's sacrifice and her return from the underworld was so widely retold, the name carries a recognisable literary association even for readers who have never opened Euripides.