The two are
different
things in most men's eyes.
Euripides - Alcestis
HERACLES.
I understand no more.
Thy words are riddles.
ADMETUS.
Heard'st thou not of yore
The doom that she must meet?
HERACLES.
I know thy wife
Has sworn to die for thee.
ADMETUS.
And is it life,
To live with such an oath hung o'er her head?
HERACLES (_relieved_).
Ah,
Weep not too soon, friend. Wait till she be dead.
ADMETUS.
He dies who is doomed to die; he is dead who dies.
HERACLES.
The two are different things in most men's eyes.
ADMETUS.
Decide thy way, lord, and let me decide
The other way.
HERACLES.
Who is it that has died?
Thou weepest.
ADMETUS.
'Tis a woman. It doth take
My memory back to her of whom we spake.
HERACLES.
A stranger, or of kin to thee?
ADMETUS.
Not kin,
But much beloved.
HERACLES.
How came she to be in
Thy house to die?
ADMETUS.
