Chorus Leader Character Analysis

MAID Sir, the queen is dying. . . .
LEADER Oh, Alcestis, Alcestis!
What a loss. Poor Admetos, how I pity him. . . .
MAID The master does not know the meaning of his loss.
He will not know, until it is too late.
LEADER Nothing can be done to save her?
MAID Nothing. This is the day. Her destiny is too strong,
a force she cannot fight.

HERAKLES: I have a labor to perform. Eurystheus is my master.
He commands, and I obey.

LEADER What is your mission? And where are you bound?

HERAKLES A long, hard journey.
My destination’s Thrace. My orders are to capture
Diomedes’ horses.

LEADER Diomedes’ horses? It can’t be done,
Herakles. Surely you’ve heard of Diomedes?
[…] Those horses are wild. They can’t be broken.

HERAKLES Can’t be broken?

LEADER Not without a fight, they can’t.

HERAKLES Fighting’s what I do.
My labors are my life. I can’t refuse.

CHORUS: —It had to be. We cannot choose our fates.
—A man can fight. But not with life,
not with death.
—Accept it like a man.
—Hard, hard, I know.
—Be brave, Admetos.
—Courage. Others too have lost their wives.
—Some soon, some late, every man is curbed
by suffering or fate.
—Now it is your turn.

[…]

LEADER: Your luck had been good, Admetos. High happiness and great wealth—both were yours. So when this sorrow struck so suddenly, it found you unprepared. Suffering was something you had never known.

MAID Sir, the queen is dying. . . .
LEADER Oh, Alcestis, Alcestis!
What a loss. Poor Admetos, how I pity him. . . .
MAID The master does not know the meaning of his loss.
He will not know, until it is too late.
LEADER Nothing can be done to save her?
MAID Nothing. This is the day. Her destiny is too strong,
a force she cannot fight.

HERAKLES: I have a labor to perform. Eurystheus is my master.
He commands, and I obey.

LEADER What is your mission? And where are you bound?

HERAKLES A long, hard journey.
My destination’s Thrace. My orders are to capture
Diomedes’ horses.

LEADER Diomedes’ horses? It can’t be done,
Herakles. Surely you’ve heard of Diomedes?
[…] Those horses are wild. They can’t be broken.

HERAKLES Can’t be broken?

LEADER Not without a fight, they can’t.

HERAKLES Fighting’s what I do.
My labors are my life. I can’t refuse.

CHORUS: —It had to be. We cannot choose our fates.
—A man can fight. But not with life,
not with death.
—Accept it like a man.
—Hard, hard, I know.
—Be brave, Admetos.
—Courage. Others too have lost their wives.
—Some soon, some late, every man is curbed
by suffering or fate.
—Now it is your turn.

[…]

LEADER: Your luck had been good, Admetos. High happiness and great wealth—both were yours. So when this sorrow struck so suddenly, it found you unprepared. Suffering was something you had never known.