Alcestis, Children of Heracles, Cyclops

This was a very interesting set of plays by Euripides and contained a mix of tragedy and satyr plays.

Alcestis is a tragedy with comedic elements. The tragic portions deal with Alcestis giving her life for her husband and the comedic elements around Heracles who gets drunk the the house of those mourning Alcestis' death.

The Children of Heracles interestingly enough deals with the children of Heracles. Death is at their door as Eurystheus, who put their father Heracles through the Labors, seeks to snuff out potential revenge Brough about by Heracles' children. There are wonderful themes of fate, sacrifice, and courage in this tragedy play.

Heracles is present in all of the plays except for Cyclops, which takes us to the Odyssey story of the cyclops Polyphemus. This one is a satyr play, defined by translator Robin Waterfield as tragedy at play. These plays exist in the middle between tragedy and comedy. They would have been performed after three tragedy plays to apparently lighten the mood. They deal in scandalous behavior, phallic jokes, and great bouts of drinking. This is essentially a more humorous take on the Odysseus and Polyphemus story than what is found in the Odyssey.