“Death is the common debt of man; no mortal really knows if he will live to see the morrow’s light; for Fortune’s issues are not in our ken, beyond the teacher’s rule they lie, no art can master them.”
~ ‘Alcestis’ by Euripides (Edward P. Coleridge translation. GB5 - p. 244)
King Admetus of Thessaly is fated to die at a young age. Apollo, who was punished by Zeus to live as a mortal (in Thessaly as a shepherd) after he killed Cyclopes (Zeus’ sons) to take revenge on Zeus for killing his son, liked Admetus. He makes a deal with the goddesses of fate that Admetus could live if someone else volunteered to die in his place. Admetus mentions this to everyone in his palace and city, hoping that someone would come forward to volunteer, especially his parents or one of the citizens who respected him a lot. But no one comes forward. In the end, his wife, Alcestis, is the only one willing to make the sacrifice.
The day of Alcestis’ death approaches, and Admetus is completely distraught. He even says that it would have been better if he had died instead of her. Before dying, she makes him promise that he would not marry anyone else.