The hero, Admetus, is condemned to death by the Fates. But thanks to Apollo’s negotiating, he is offered a loophole—Admetus can escape death if he can persuade someone else to die for him. He asks his mother and father to die in his place, and they refuse in no uncertain terms. Alcestis is made of stronger stuff—she steps forward and volunteers to die for her husband. Perhaps she doesn’t expect Admetus to accept her offer—but he does, and Alcestis dies and departs for Hades. Heracles seizes Alcestis from Hades and brings her triumphantly back to the land of the living. Admetus is moved to tears by the reunion with his wife. Alcestis’s emotions are harder to read—she remains silent. She doesn’t speak.~
-Alcestis - Euripedes
“You’re dead to me”
They say when you aren’t what you want them to be
“You’re dead to me”
They’ve killed you over and over again
“I wish you’d have died instead of being this way”
They stab you with sharpened words
And like that, you’re silent.
Not in words, in presence
In persona and in aura
You, the reality of you
Is silence
Because you’ve been condemned
For being who you are
Choosing your own life
Loving the way you want to love
Identifying the way you want to
Doing the things you want to do
But they. They have sentenced you
Sentenced the person they don’t need
The You they didn’t imagine a future for
They sentence you to die
And you die
Again and again and again
Because you loved and you trusted
the ones you called family
killed you, condemned you
and wished for your death
You’re silent in opinion
You’re silent in strength
Silence isn’t the gold you need
It’s the curse you’ve been inflicted with
It’s what speaks loudest
When betrayal flows through your veins
Like blood with thorns infused in it
And hurt with a fire burning
And just like Alcestis,
You live
In silence
Because the dead do not talk.
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