Page:Euripides (Mahaffy).djvu/68

62 the old man remonstrating with the king's brother. Agamemnon and Menelaus then enter upon a very long altercation, in which at last Menelaus gives way, but Agamemnon in his turn becomes resolved for the sacrifice through mingled ambition and fear of public opinion. The change in Menelaus ts produced by seeing his brother's despair on the sudden news that Iphigenia has arrived amid the acclamations of the host. The constancy of Agamemnon, on the contrary, is that curious obstinacy of an irresolute man who fears public opinion, and, having given way at first easily, finds himself the slave of a hasty and weak acquiescence. The entry of Queen Clytemnestra and her daughter, the further subterfuges of Agamemnon, the somewhat comic situation of Achilles—who meets Clytemnestra by chance, and is hailed to his surprise as her future son-in-law—lead to subtle developments of character, and heighten the interest of the play as it draws to its close. The courtliness and chivalry of Achilles, and the stout motherly homeliness of Clytemnestra, bring out the wretched weakness of the king and the noble resolve of the princess in striking relief. But these matters belong to another chapter.

45. The Alcestis.—Though the Alcestis is among the list at the opening of this chapter, our consideration of the characters will sufficiently convey the plot which they sustain. I will only notice here that the powerlessness of Apollo to save his friend except by means of a substitute, and the grim determination of Death, as he approaches the palace from which the god is retiring—these facts, which are brought before us in the opening scene, greatly enhance our sense of the heroism of Heracles and the terrible conflict which he undertakes. The somewhat comic scenes in the play, the jocund revelling of the unsuspecting Heracles