In Alcestis, Hercules goes to the underworld and restores Alcestis to her family. In Hercules, he comes back from the underworld, is thrown into a god-induced frenzy and kills his own family. Meanwhile, Alcestis sacrifices herself to save her family. Using as a launching point these two diametrically opposite actions by Hercules—the prototypical Greek hero—and Alcestis' differently heroic act, we explore what heroism is/is not/could be in a modern context.
