First produced around 388 BC. Chremylos and his slave, Karion, have been to Delphi. We are told that Chremylos went there to seek advice from the Oracle of Apollo on behalf of his son to find out whether he should become educated in injustice and knavery, and learn how worldly men acquire their riches. The moral of this play is that riches corrupt the morals of those that possess them.
In this play the Chorus only serves to separate the acts. At the same time, the Parabasis has completely disappeared altogether from this play. Wealth is considered to be a transitional play, sometimes placed in the category of Middle Comedy or even seen as a forerunner of New Comedy. This lack of a Parabasis reflects there has been a shift in comedic style. The focus seems to have moved away from direct interaction with the audience towards more of having a plot-driven narrative, perhaps because Athens had only a few years past lost the Peloponnesian War and criticism of the state [polis] and its politicians was now being looked down upon and no longer particularly tolerated. A new form of comedy seems to be evolving. Or more likely from the the play's heavy criticism of the Athenian economic system and the division of society between rich and poor, the focus in the play has turned towards social commentary being dealt within the plot itself, and no longer needed to have a separate section for political commentary, viz. the parabasis.
Dramatis Personaea
Speaking Parts:
Chremylos - an elderly poor citizen of Athens, a peasant. [Name means one who deceives his debtors].
Karion - Chremylus' slave.
Wealth - Ploutos, Greek God of Wealth, Son of Demeter. Dressed as a Blind Beggar.
Blepsidemos - a friend of Chremylos.
Penia - The personified spirit (daimona) of poverty and need who has been cohabiting with Chremylos for many years.
Wife of Chremylos.
A Just Man who is honest.
An Informer/Sycophant, one who makes his living by bringing witnesses to court who have been bribed to commit perjury.
An Old Woman - a courtesan.
A Young Man - loved by the Old Woman.
Hermes.
Priest of the temple of Zeus the Saviour [Zeus Soter].
Chorus - Fellow old peasants belonging to the same deme as Chremylos.
Mute or Silent Characters:
Boy - servant to the Honest Man.
Witness - brought by the Informer.
Handmaiden - of the Old Woman.
Slaves - of Chremylos.
Setting:
A street in Athens, the Skene is Chremylos' house.
Plot:
Chremylos has observed that wealth is not being fairly distributed in society and that certainly not all the wealthy seem to be honest and good-minded people. He has a dilemma will he teach his son to be a scoundrel to make his living using scurrilous means or teach him to be a goody. He decides he needs to consult the Oracle at Delphi to settle this matter. So he has set off together with his slave to take the advice of the Oracle in this matter.
The Oracle has told him to follow and take up with the first person he encounters after leaving the temple at Delphi and to befriend him. That person turns out to be a blind beggar. The blind beggar reluctantly reveals himself to be Plutous, god of Wealth, and he tells Chremylos that he has been deliberately blinded by Zeus so that he might not be able to distinguish the good from the bad when distributing his bounties in society. Chremylos takes pity on Plutous and offers to help him to be rid of the illness in his eyes. Chremylos invites Ploutos to stay with him.
At that moment Penia, the daimona of poverty and need, who has been cohabiting with Chremylos for some years in his house, bursts out onto the stage and accuses Chremylos of treachery, for wanting to make the just wealthy. Blepsidemos, Chremylos' friend, advises Chremylos to rush off to the temple of Asceplios with Ploutos as quickly as possible to get the blind god cured.. Chremylos banishes Penia from his home saying that he prefers to be wealthy. Penia resentfully remarks that she may return.
Chremylos remarks that they have now rid themselves of the old hag. He orders Ploutos to be fetched.
Chremylos and Blepsidemos together with Ploutos set off for the temple of Asceplios. Karion goes back into Chremylos' house.
There is an Interlude with the Chorus dancing.
Enter Karion. He relates the following:-
At the legendary temple of Asclepius Ploutos is cured of his blindness. The temple is a site famous for its miraculous healings. With his newfound sight, Ploutos officially joins Chremylos' household, transforming everything. Now, with discerning vision, wealth is directed to the truly and justly deserving, persons like Chremylos himself. However, the undeserving receive a harsh financial wake-up call. This economic and social upheaval throws the world into chaos. The previously wealthy, accustomed to effortless access to wealth, respond with an outcry. "Fairness?" they scoff! To them, this new system feels anything but fair.
Episodes:
There follow a stream of episodes with people coming to Chremylos' house, those who have been badly affected and those who have benefitted from the restoration of Plutous to his vision.
Enter a Just Man
We are introduced to “a man who was once very poor, but who is now happy.” A just man, he has come to stand before Chremylos' house just to thank Plutous (who now lives with his benefactor) for all the blessings he has been showered with and to dedicate his former ragged cloak and scruffy shoes to the god.
Enter an Informer [sycophant]
A frantic cry goes up as an Informer bursts onto the scene, followed by a witness. "Woe is me!" he wails, throwing his hands up in despair. "My life has become a catastrophe! I have been cursed by fate a thousand times over! Why must the world conspire against me?!"
Through his conversation with the ever-sarcastic Karion and the stoic Just Man, it becomes painfully clear that this fellow is not a real victim. He's livid that Ploutos, the god of Wealth, has pulled away his means of earning ill-gotten gains and turned them into use for the good. Karion and the Just Man, are unimpressed by the theatrics of the Informer and promptly strip him of his fancy cloak and shoes, leaving him to slink away whimpering.
But beware the cornered scoundrel! As he leaves, he throws a venomous threat over his shoulder. "You win this round," he snarls, "but that;s only because you outnumber me. Let me find just one ally, no matter how insignificant, and I'll drag this so-called god before the courts! He'll face charges of undermining democracy with his tyrannical whims, bypassing the Senate and Assembly altogether!"
A really ugly Old Woman enters. She has been hideously made-up. The Leader of the Chorus is present in the orchestra.
She claims she has come to find the new god. The Chorus Leader tells her that she has come to the right place.
At that moment Chremylos comes out of his house.
The Old Woman tells him that she has been terribly upset ever since this new god has recovered his sight. Chremylos says he hopes that she is not yet another Informer [Sycophant] and has not also been drinking. She denied these. She told Chremylos that she used to have a very shy but handsome young man as a lover who used to gratify her needs and to whom in return she used to give him presents like, say, twenty drachmas to buy a new cloak or eight drachmas to buy shoes. And he then often begged from her for money to buy dresses for his little sisters or for a shawl for his mother, or for four months supply of wheat for them.
Chremylos [ironically and aside] remarks "How modest this Young Man's requests were!"
The Old Woman denied that the Young Man's demands were not so greedy, that the Young Man had only asked for the cloak to make him feel for her, whom he called "his little dove".
Chremylos [ironically and aside] suggests that "He must have been so terribly in love with her!"
After this she said she had received a message from him that he never wanted to see her again and returned her little peace offerings. And he also told her that now he was rich he had no need for lentil-soup any more. And that in the past he had often come knocking at her door.
Chremylos [ironically and aside] saying that "He must have hoped to find you dead!"
Chremylos continues in this scene to mock the Old Woman basically telling her that she has been duped by this Young Man who has become rich and therefore no longer needs her financial support and that he probably now only wishes she were dead.
The Young Man concerned enters rather drunk and waving a lit torch in the air. He sees the Old Woman.
Chremylos says to the Young Man: "As you seem to have appreciated the wine, perhaps you might care for the dregs as well."
The Young Man comments that with these dregs the wine has gone completely off.
Chremylos invites them both to continue their dispute in his house.
The Old Woman and the Young Man both enter Chremylos' house.
Chremylos leaves the stage going into his house.
The god Hermes enters via a side entrance and knocks on Chremylos' door.
Karion leans out of the window to see who has come visiting.
Hermes says he has brought a message from Zeus for Chremylos. Zeus wants to crush him and his family: his wife, his children, all his slaves and the family pig too. He wants to grind them all up for Chremylos' having arranged and helped the god Wealth to get his eyesight back all against his will and express command. And worst still the people of Athens have ceased making sacrifices to and leaving ritual offerings for the gods. Karion replies by saying that the gods deserve this treatment as they have been rather rotten to human beings like him down here. Hermes said that the innkeepers's wives used to spoil him with honey cakes when he went on journeys delivering messages from the gods, but they no longer do this for him. Karion declares that it serves the gods right as the they have caused so much grief for the humans. Hermes begs Karion for help. Karion replies if it was within his gift to be able to help him he would. He offers Hermes a drink and tells him to get lost after downing that.
But Hermes is greedy and wants Karion to steal a leg of ham for him as well. Karion told Hermes he can't do that. Hermes said that whenever Karion helped himself stealthily to his master's provisions he was always there assisting him. Karion answered that Hermes was not there at all after he had got caught and received a whipping.
Hermes said he has deserted Olympos and the gods, and needs a new home now. Karion questioned his motives for having done this. Hermes responded home is wherever one feels at home! Karion then wanted to know of what use would Hermes be to them. Karion told Hermes that now they were wealthy, Hermes said he could act in the role of a tradesman and the god of deceit. Karion responded that that would be totally out of order. Honesty now rules in the house of Chremylos. Hermes offered to be their guide. Karion replied they already have a guide now that the god Wealth could see, and therefore didn't need one.
Hermes then offered to be the god of the Games, and all matters involving prizes and competitions, such as theatre; he then offered to serve on the jury of the present dramatic competition. At that Karion then led him off stage and inside into Chremylos' house to discuss terms.
A Priest of the Temple of Zeus the Saviour now entered. He has a grudge. He told Chremylos that ever since the god of Wealth got his eyesight back and wealth has been distributed more evenly and universally amongst the people of Athens, the rich no longer come to the temple any more to make sacrifices or to leave donations in thanksgiving for their good fortune; rather ruffians were now using the temple's building as a public latrine. He told Chremylos that he was no longer receiving a share of the donations he used to get and that he now wants to abandon his Temple and to join Chremylos' new cult.
Chremylos tells the Priest not to worry and that he would find that Zeus the Saviour has also decided to join his cult too. He invites the Priest to wait outside his house, that his household are about to leave for Athena's temple [on the Acropolis] to install their renewed god of Wealth as Guardian of her inner Treasury there. He invites the Priest of Zeus the Saviour to lead the procession to it.
The entirety of Chremylos' household comes out his house. The Priest leads them all off down the parodos leading to the city [by convention stage left], followed by the Chorus chanting in celebration.
The Old Woman is first to leave the house. Chremylos has told her that the Young Man will come to her place that night.
References
Plutus (play) - Wikipedia
Plutus - Wikipedia
PLUTUS (Ploutos) - Greek God of Wealth & Agricultural Bounty Theoi.Com
Asclepius - Wikipedia
ASCLEPIUS (Asklepios) - Greek God of Medicine & Doctors Theoi.Com
Penia - Wikipedia
PENIA - Greek Goddess or Spirit of Poverty Theoi.com
A Guide to Ancient Greek Drama: Synopsis of Aristophanes' Wealth
Crowell's handbook of classical drama pp 279- : Hathorn, Richmond Y. - Internet Archive
Wealth by Aristophanes - Greek Mythology
Wealth by Aristophanes - GreekMythology.com
Plutus (Wealth) - Aristophanes - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature
Aristophanes: Wealth - Tom's Learning Notes
Plutus (Wealth) - Aristophanes - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature
Plutus - World History Encyclopedia
Plutus Summary - eNotes.com
Plutus - World History Encyclopedia
Plutus by Aristophanes: Plutus: Text and Notes
Dithyramb, Tragedy and Comedy p. 328 by A.W. Pickard-Cambridge - Internet Archive
Analysis of Play: Plutus
Google Scholar Search = Aristophanes+Plutus
Aristophanes' Wealth - Google Scholar Search
JSTOR Search = Aristophanes Plutus
Core UK Search = Aristophanes Plutus
What Wealth Has to Do with Dionysus: From Economy to Poetics in Aristophanes' Plutus
Soter - Wikipedia
Konstan, David, and Matthew Dillon. “The Ideology of Aristophanes' Wealth.” The American Journal of Philology, vol. 102, no. 4, 1981, pp. 371–394. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/294325.
Greek Versions
Aristophanous Ploutos. The Plutus of Aristophanes, from the text of Dindorf... - Google Books
The Plutus of Aristophanes by W.C. Green
The Plutus of Aristophanes - Internet Archive Pitt Press Series
The Plutus of Aristophanes edited by B.B. Rogers
Aristophanis comoediae; Plutus editit F.W. Hall & W.M. Geldart -Internet Archive
Aristophanous kōmōidiai Volume VI = The comedies of Aristophanes Plutus - Internet Archive
The Plutus of Aristophanes edited by F.W. Nicolson
Aristophanes, Plutus - Perseus Digital Library
Translations
Delphi Complete Works of Aristophanes: Wealth
Aristophanes Plutus with English translation by Benjamin Bickley Rogers
Birds and Other Plays (Oxford World's Classics): Aristophanes - Internet Archive
Aristophanes (Collins)/Chapter 9 - Wikisource, the free online library
The Complete Plays of Aristophanes - p. 663 Plutus (Wealth)
Aristophanes; tr. Alan H. Sommerstein (2001). Wealth. Volume 11 of Comedies of Aristophanes. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-85668-739-6.
by Aristophanes; Translated by David Barrett and Alan H. Sommerstein
ISBN 0140443320 9780140443325
The Knights ; Peace ; Wealth ; The Birds ; The Assemblywomen by Aristophanes - Internet Archive
Aristophanes (1825). Plutus; Or, The God of Riches: A Comedy. Wheatley and Adlard.
Four plays by Aristophanes translated by Paul Roche
Aristophanes, Plutus - Perseus Digital Library
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