“Shamelessly thou hast fought against thy death:
Thy life is but transgression of thy doom,
And murder of thy wife.“[[29]]
The torrent of scorn that he pours upon Admetus: the merciless exposure of his timidity, the gibes at his base love of life, cannot but sweep away the moorings which held the king to his self-respect. But pride and anger struggle fiercely against humiliation; and the unseemly quarrel rages on, despite voices interposed in a vain effort at conciliation, until the funeral train emerges from the palace. Then father and son, shamed to silence, follow the body of Alcestis to its burial, while the Chorus chants:
“Alas for the loving and daring!
Farewell to the noblest and best!
May Hermes conduct thee down-faring
Kindly, and Hades to rest
Receive thee! If any atonement
For ills even there may betide