Plutus

By Aristophanes

The story of 'Plutus' concerns Chremylus, a poor but just man, who accompanied by his body-servant Cario, consults the Delphic Oracle concerning his son, whether he ought not to be instructed in injustice and knavery and the other arts whereby worldly men acquire riches. By way of answer the god only tells him that he is to follow whomsoever he first meets upon leaving the temple, who proves to be a blind and ragged old man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
• Release date: Nov 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781625580641

Aristophanes

Aristophanes (446–386 BCE) was a Greek comedy writer, who produced about 40 plays throughout his career. His work was the embodiment of “Old Comedy”—an early form of the genre that used exaggerated characters and scenarios. Aristophanes’ first play, The Banqueters, was produced in 427 BCE, quickly followed by The Babylonians. His most famous production, Lysistrata, was initially performed in 411 BCE and centers on one woman’s attempt to end a war by holding a sex strike. Due to his sensationalized plots and vibrant characters, Aristophanes is considered one of the architects of Greek comedy.

Book preview

Plutus

By AuAristophanesthor

Start Publishing LLC

Copyright © 2012 by Start Publishing LLC

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

First Start Publishing eBook edition October 2012

Start Publishing is a registered trademark of Start Publishing LLC

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 978-1-62558-064-1

Table of Contents

Introduction

Plutus

Introduction

The ‘Plutus’ differs widely from all other works of its Author, and, it must be confessed, is the least interesting and diverting of them all. In its absence of personal interests and personal satire, and its lack of strong comic incidents, it approximates rather to a whimsical allegory than a comedy properly so called.

The plot is of the simplest. Chremylus, a poor but just man, accompanied by his body-servant Cario—the redeeming feature, by the by, of an otherwise dull play, the original type of the comic valet of the stage of all subsequent periods—consults the Delphic Oracle concerning his son, whether he ought not to be instructed in injustice and knavery and the other arts whereby worldly men acquire riches. By way of answer the god only tells him that he is to follow whomsoever he first meets upon leaving the temple, who proves to be a blind and ragged old man. But this turns out to be no other than Plutus himself, the god of riches, whom Zeus has robbed of his eyesight, so that he may be unable henceforth to distinguish between the just and the unjust. However, succoured by Chremylus and conducted by him to the Temple of Aesculapius, Plutus regains the use of his eyes. Whereupon all just men, including the god’s benefactor, are made rich and prosperous, and the unjust reduced to indigence.

The play was, it seems, twice put upon the stage—first in 408 B.C., and again in a revised and reinforced edition, with allusions and innuendoes brought up to date, in 388 B.C., a few years before the Author’s death. The text we possess—marred, however, by several considerable lacunae—is now generally allowed to be that of the piece as played at the later date, when it won the prize.

Plutus

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

CHREMYLUS. CARIO, Servant of Chremylus.

PLUTUS, God of Riches.

BLEPSIDEMUS, friend of Chremylus.

WIFE OF CHREMYLUS. POVERTY.

A JUST MAN.

AN INFORMER, or Sycophant.

AN OLD WOMAN.

A YOUTH.

HERMES.

A PRIEST OF ZEUS.

CHORUS OF RUSTICS.

SCENE: In front of a farmhouse—a road leading up to it.

CARIO. What an unhappy fate, great gods, to be the slave of a fool! A servant may give the best of advice, but if his master does not follow it, the poor slave must inevitably have his share in the disaster; for fortune does not allow him to dispose of his own body, it belongs to his master who has bought it. Alas! ‘tis the way of the world. But the god, Apollo, whose oracles the Pythian priestess on her golden tripod makes known to us, deserves my censure, for ‘tis assured he is a physician and a cunning diviner; and yet my master is leaving his temple infected with mere madness and insists on following a blind man. Is this not opposed to all good sense? ‘Tis for us, who see clearly, to guide those who don’t; whereas he clings to the trail of a blind fellow and compels me to do the same without answering my questions with ever a word. (To Chremylus.) Aye, master, unless you tell me why

Reviews for Plutus

[joririchardson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have a single-volume collection of Aristophanes' best known plays, and this was the only one I hadn't read yet.A man named Chremylus, disheartened at all the evil he has found in the world, goes to the temple to ask the god Apollo if it wouldn't be better to just throw his hands up and raise his son as a criminal. The god tells him to walk out of the temple and follow the very first person he sees. That person happens to be Plutus, the god of wealth. However, Chremylus finds the deity as anything but wealthy. The god has been reduced to a beggarly, blind old man. Zeus took away his sight so that he could not tell between good people (who are deserving of riches) and bad people (who aren't). Chremylus, along with his servant Cario, vows to heal Plutus of his blindness, and sets out on a journey to a divine temple of healing. Along the way, the hag-goddess Poverty interrupts and warns them against returning the god's vision.I liked this play, and it was typical Aristophanes - fun and quickly paced, with interesting, thought provoking themes underneath. I liked Poverty's speech against wealth, which touches into economics. She reasons that if there is too much money, rather than make everyone wealthy, it will reduce the value of their riches instead, leaving them just the same. Or, worse, it will deliver an even harder life upon them than they live now. If everyone is rich, who would want to be Chremylus' servant, bringing him wine and running his home? Who would want to learn a difficult, time consuming trade? And without tradesman, where would he ever be able to purchase clothing, tools, ornaments...She has quite a point. Of course, her logic doesn't go through to Chremylus, who only sees a walking dollar sign with Plutus in his company.After Plutus' sight is returned to him, there is an immediate influx of money being showered upon everyone in sight. Most are rejoicing of course, but none everyone is so thrilled at the new change of the tides. There was a comical scene with a rich old woman complaining. Her handsome young boyfriend, who had been living off her generosity as long as he continued to call her beautiful, has now left her since he has his own money.Zeus himself also comes thundering up to the door, shouting that now, no one is giving him any sacrifices at the temple (it is stated beforehand that the only reason anyone really sacrifices to Zeus anyways is to request money).I liked that the gods seem so integrated with the lives of ordinary people. I love that about Greek literature.Even though Zeus never actually makes an appearance (just his shouting at the door), no one seems surprised in the least that a powerful divinity is on their doorstep. When Chremylus mentions that it was Apollo who told him to follow Plutus, the money-god exclaims "What, he's involved in this too?"It just gives you the sense that all the gods know each other, and all the people know all the gods. For some reason, it's appealing to me, as a way of knitting a relatively diverse culture and kingdom together.I liked this play and will have to seek out some of the last works by Aristophanes that I still haven't read. It always makes me sad to read references to his 'lost plays' in footnotes, that we will never get the chance to read.