THE BOOK WAS DRENCHED - OUDL Home

comes a most sympathetic figure at the end when he courageously faces
death. Or again, we cannot understand why Alcmena in the same closing
scene exhibits a painful gloating vindictiveness, for which we are completely
unprepared. Various suggestions have been made to explain these
difficulties. One critic has urged that the piece was written as a substitute
for a Satyr-play, like the Alcestis. Others have argued that the text is
now incomplete and that the complete version had not only fuller choral
passages, but also contained an account of Macaria's death similar to Talthybius'
report of Polyxena's fate in the Hecuba. As the play now stands,
it leaves much to be desired, since its general patriotic tone does not sufficiently
compensate for its dramatic flaws and its lack of unity. One therefore
may easily understand why the play has not enjoyed wide popularity.