''Plutus'' (, ''Ploutos'', "Wealth") is an
Ancient Greek comedy by the playwright
Aristophanes, which was first produced in 388 BC. A
political satire
Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned.
Political satir ...
on contemporary Athens, it features the personified god of wealth
Plutus. Reflecting the
development of Old Comedy towards New Comedy, it uses such familiar character types as the stupid master and the insubordinate slave to attack the morals of the time.
Plot
The play features an elderly Athenian citizen, Chremylos, and his
slave Cario or Carion. Chremylos presents himself and his family as virtuous but poor, and has accordingly gone to seek advice from an
oracle. The play begins as he returns to Athens from
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...
, having been instructed by
Apollo
Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
to follow the first man he meets and persuade him to come home with him. That man turns out to be the god
Plutus — who is, contrary to all expectations, a blind
beggar. After much argument, Plutus is convinced to enter Chremylos's house, where he will have his vision restored, meaning that "wealth" will now go only to those who deserve it in one way or another.
The first part of the play examines the idea that wealth is not distributed to the virtuous, or necessarily to the non-virtuous, but instead it is distributed randomly. Chremylos is convinced that if Plutus's eyesight can be restored, these wrongs can be righted, making the world a better place.
The second part introduces the goddess
Penia (Poverty). She counters Chremylos's arguments that it is better to be rich by arguing that without poverty there would be no slaves (as every slave would buy his freedom) and no fine goods or luxury foods (as nobody would work if everyone were rich).
After Plutus's eyesight is restored at the Temple of
Asclepius, he formally becomes a member of Chremylos's household. At the same time, the entire world is turned upside-down economically and socially. Unsurprisingly, this gives rise to rancorous comments and claims of unfairness from those who have been deprived of their riches.
In the end, the messenger god
Hermes arrives to inform Chremylos and his family of the gods' anger. As in Aristophanes's ''
The Birds'', the gods have been starved of sacrifices, since human beings have all directed their attention to Plutus, and they no longer pay homage to the traditional
Olympian gods. Hermes, worried about his own predicament, actually offers to work for the mortals and enters Chremylos's house as a servant on those conditions.
Performance history
''Plutus'' was the last performance of
Aristophanes that occurred during his lifetime. Plutus was also one of the first Greek plays to be performed using the new (post-
Reformation) pronunciation of Greek diphthongs developed by
John Cheke and
Thomas Smith during the 1530s, when it was enacted at
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...
.
[J. Strype, ''The Life of the Learned Sir Thomas Smith, Kt., D.C.L.'', New Edition with corrections and additions by the author (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1820)]
p. 12
References
Translations
* William James Hickie, 1853, prose, ''The Comedies of Aristophanes, Vol. 2''
* William Charles Green, 1892 (2nd ed), verse
full text*
Benjamin B. Rogers, 1924, verse
available for digital loan*
Arthur S. Way, 1934, verse,
* Eugene O'Neill Jr., 1938, prose
full text* Alan H. Sommerstein, 1978
available for digital loan*
Jeffrey Henderson, 2002, verse
* George Theodoridis, 2008, prose
full text
External links
at the Internet Classics Archive
{{Authority control
Plays by Aristophanes
Asclepius
Plays set in ancient Greece
Plays set in Athens
Delphi in fiction
Plays based on classical mythology