Wealth

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The Wealth , Greek  Πλοῦτος / Plutos , is the last comedy of the Greek poet Aristophanes , the text of which has been preserved for posterity. Its first version was written in 408 BC. BC, but we only have an edited version from 388 BC adapted to current events. Chr. Handed down.

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With his last work performed under his own direction, Aristophanes heralds the transition to medium comedy. The focus is no longer on the big political questions of the time, but on individual and social problems, with Der Reichtum about the distribution of property. The decent Chremylos ("The Little Hawk") has to live in poverty, while numerous criminals amass ever greater fortunes. He therefore turns to the Oracle of Delphi to find out whether his son should also deviate from the path of virtue in order to later lead a better life than his father. From Apollo he received the advice to follow the first person he came across when leaving the temple and to invite him to his inn. He meets an old, blind man: Plutos , the god of wealth. Because he is blind, he cannot see how unfairly he distributes his gifts. In order to change that, Chremylos has him healed in the temple of Asclepius , whereupon the ownership changes as desired. Penia , the goddess of poverty and thus an opponent, fails to convince the citizens with a lecture about the moral significance of poverty - she is chased away, while Plutos is celebrated and honored with an altar in the Parthenon .

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  • Plutos: A Comedy by Aristophanes. Metrically translated into German and annotated by CP Conz, 1807 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  • Plutos. A comedy by Aristophanes. Translated by Emanuel Lindemann, 1832 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  • Aristophanus Eutrapelōtatu Kōmiku Plutos. Nuremberg, 1531 ( digitized version of the SLUB Dresden ).