After reading · Section 15

Section 15Arcite’s Death and Funeral

Summary

Arcite’s internal injuries defeat every treatment. He summons Emily and Palamon, laments his separation from Emily, and praises Palamon’s honour, wisdom, humility, and lifelong service, asking Emily to remember his cousin if she ever marries. Arcite’s strength and senses fail; he dies with “Mercy, Emily!” as his last words. Emily and Palamon mourn intensely, while old Egeus consoles Theseus by describing life as a passage in which joy and grief inevitably alternate.

Theseus orders Arcite’s funeral in the grove where the cousins once fought. Arcite is displayed in noble dress, and a procession carries him through streets draped in black. Emily bears the funeral fire; offerings, weapons, and vessels of wine, milk, and blood go into the enormous pyre. The grove’s felled trees displace its creatures and deities. After circling the fire three times, funeral games, and an all-night wake, the Greeks return to Athens.

Who’s who

• Arcite — the mortally injured victor, who commends Palamon to Emily before dying.
• Emily — Arcite’s beloved, mourner, and bearer of the funeral torch.
• Palamon — Arcite’s cousin and former rival, now the most visibly desolate mourner.
• Theseus — organizer of Arcite’s public funeral.
• Egeus — Theseus’s elderly father, who counsels acceptance of life’s changes.