Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. What Wealth Has to Do with Dionysus: From Economy to Poetics in Aristophanes' Plutus Sfyroeras, Pavlos Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Autumn 1995; 36, 3; ProQuest pg. 231 What Wealth Has to Do with Dionysus: From Economy to Poetics in Aristophanes' Plutus Pavlos Sfyroeras W HEN NOT DISREGARDED as an inferior play or the prod­ uct of a waning talent, t Aristophanes' p/utus is set off against his surviving fifth-century plays and viewed as a comedy from a different era. It lacks a formal parabasis, that earmark of Old Comedy, and the role of the chorus is minimal, all but reduced to dancing interludes. Further, it contains very little by way of breaks of dramatic illusion, topical references, or invective against individuals. The poet's last extant play is thus seen as the first specimen of that grey area, Middle Comedy, or even as a forerunner of many themes in New Comedy. Although comparison need not be disparaging, it tends to cast a heavy shadow on the play.2 Recent studies have, it is true, set the stage for a re-evaluation of the comedy by stressing how it actively responds to the social and economic developments in the first decades of the fourth century.3 Even so, the prevailing tendency is still to look back to the fifth-century plays, to I For a review of scholarship see E. David, Aristophanes and Athenian Society of the Early Fourth Century R.C. (=Mnemosyne Suppl. 81 [Leiden 1984]) 1 n.1; S. D. OLSON, -Economics and Ideology in Aristophanes' Wealth," HSCP 93 (1990: hereafter 'Olson') 223 n.1. 2 One of the few scholars diverging from this consensus, M. Dillon, -Topicality in Aristophanes' Ploutos," CIAnt 6 (1987) 155-83, esp. 157, lauds Aristophanes as a conscious innovator and pioneer who creates a broader and more lasting appeal. ] Recent studies stressing an active interaction between Plutus and its social and economic milieu include D. KONSTAN and M. DILLON, MThe Ideology of Aristophanes' Wealth," AlP 102 (1981: hereafter 'Konstan and Dillon') 371-94; David (supra n.1); Dillon (supra n.2); Olson. In a somewhat different vein A. H. SOMMERSTEIN, - Aristophanes and the Demon of Poverty," CQ N.S. 34 (1984: 'Sommerstein') 314-33, argues that Aristophanes' social orientation undergoes a radical change in his fourth-century plays in response to social and economic developments. 231 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 232 FROM ECONOMY TO POETICS IN AR. PLUTUS probe gaps, and to stress discontinuities. 4 Without denying the importance of ruptures, I intend to focus instead on some elements of continuity, hoping to restore some of the luster that goes with the radiant liveliness of Old Comedy. To be sure, the Athens of 388 may be worlds apart from the city of the 420s in terms of social and economic relations. 5 Cultural history, however, is subject to different rhythms, and its continuities tend to be more persistent. The dramatic festival, for example, still functions in the early fourth century with much the same vigor, creating webs of meaning in which the plays have to situate themselves, and upon which they have to draw to engage their audience. 6 In this vein I shall argue that, in his last surviving play, the poet paints a complex portrait of Plutus with features borrowed from Dionysus, the god of the dramatic festival; further, that Aristophanes highlights Plutus' affinities with the imagery and ideology of comedy, in particular with the explosive but sophis­ ticated energy of Old Comedy. In drawing these parallels, the comic poet taps the sources of folk humor-not only as known from the earlier comedies, but also in its more general and enduring patterns that stretch beyond the confines of specific genres. I shall finally claim that, given the Dionysiac dimensions of Plutus, the triumph of the god of wealth has repercussions beyond the bounds of the dramatic action, as it provides the poet with a golden opportunity for reflection on theater and its festival. Such reflection ultimately validates the poetics of the comic genre in a manner familiar from the earlier Aristophanic plays. 4 An exception is K. J. RECKFORD. Aristophanes' Old-and-New Comedy (Chapel Hill 1987: hereafter 'Reckford') 358-63, who stresses the links between Plutus and the early plays; for some general aspects of continuity between Old and New Comedy see D. F. Sutton, Self and Society in Aris­ tophanes (Washington 1980) 93-104. 5 But even the notion of a radical change and its relevance for the play has been contested: Dillon (supra n.2) esp. 157-63, 180f. 6 D. F. Sutton, Ancient Comedy: The War of the Generations (New York 1993) 1-17, esp. 14, ascribes the enduring features of the -festive comedy" to its context, i.e., the dramatic festival and its continuities, on some of which see S. G. Cole, • Procession and Celebration at the Dionysia," in R. Scodel, ed., Theater and Society in the Classical World (Ann Arbor 1993) 25-38. For the Plutus and its audience, Dillon's view (supra n.2: esp. 156, 176-83) comple­ ments that presented here by stressing Aristophanes' effort, consistent throughout his career, to respond to the needs and tastes of a changing audience. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PAVLOS SFYROERAS 233 I Let us begin with the central element of the Aristophanic plot. The problem that Chremylos and Blepsidemos have to over­ come in their socio-economic reform is Plutus' blindness (114ff, 399ff). The prospect of Plutus' restored eyesight (400-14, 350f) dispels Chremylos' initial misgivings (e.g. 348) and allays Blepsidemos' suspicions (352-55, 367f, 372f). It further emerges as a panacea that guarantees not only a just distribution of wealth but also, ultimately. universal prosperity.7 Plutus' cure is neces­ sary to elevate the first informal, even reluctant entrance of the god into Chremylos' house (229-44) to a ritually proper, grandiose installation (771-801). In short, in order to implement their envisioned redistribution of wealth, the comic heroes must cure the god of his blindness. This is no simple matter, but a task of considerable magnitude. Chremylos and Blepsidemos have to overcome an obvious practical obstacle, which is on a par with the struggle mounted by the protagonist of earlier plays. On top of their need for nothing short of a miracle, they also have to reverse an entire tradition, for Plutus' blindness is well established in iambic poetry.8 In the skolia, as is well known, Plutus is predominantly portrayed as blind, therefore as prone to visiting the wrong people. This traditional theme of blame underlies Blepsidemos' reaction to the news that Plutus is blind (403f): BA. 'tucpAbc; 'Yap ~ (O't!; xp. vh 'tOY oupavov BA. OUK ('t~ ap' Ox; Ell' ~Ae£V oM£1tOmo't£. ov'troc; ("really") is especially significant, for it presupposes the existence of a well-known tradition, already familiar to the comic hero. Blepsidemos realizes that the rumor about Plutus' 7 As Olson (231 n.29) puts it: -[i]n the second half of the play it is stated over and over again that it is specifically Plutus' renewed eyesight that brings about prosperity (791H; cf. 769; 856-59; 864-68; 968f; 1113-16; 1173f)." On the interweaving of the two problems, the ethics of wealth and the availability of natural resources, see Konstan and Dillon 376, 379, 390f, who stress that Plutus' power is his sight. 8 The locus classicus for the debt of fifth-century comic poets to the iambic tradition: Arist. Poet. 1448b24-49b8; see R. M. Rosen, Old Comedy and the Iambographic Tradition (=American Classical Studies 19 [Atlanta 1988]); J. HENDERSON, The Maculate Muse (New York 1991: hereafter 'Henderson') 19. By -iambic" I refer to content and context rather than meter; see G. Nagy, Pin dar's Homer: The Lyric Possession of an Epic Past (Baltimore 1990) 396 n.83. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 234 FROM ECONOMY TO POETICS IN AR. PLUTUS blindness is now confirmed. after all; no wonder (oi)1e £'to<;). he gathers. that the god never visited him. Tzetzes (r.Plut. 87) points to the source of this tradition: Aristophanes "appro­ priated" the idea of a blind Plutus from this well-known poem of Hipponax (36 West): EJ.l.ot Sf ilAol)'to<;-EO"'tt yaf A.{l1v 'tuGov&v. iyoo ya.p mv lL£\PUlCWV Tt1te£A.'I'\O' <>{>c; lCa\ lCOO~{OUC; ~6v()'\)<; ~aO\ol~'I'\V' 0 Of J.I.' £1tOl'l'\OEV ~, '{va ~1t o\ay\yvcOOlCO\~\ 'tol>'tC.OV ~'I'\o£va. In this passage, Plutus, now in his old age (cf 1t PEO 13 {)'t1'\C;. 265), evokes a blessed distant past when he was a young lad (J.1Elpa­ lCLOV) with sound eyesight, before Zeus blinded him out of envy towards humankind. Zeus' blinding of Plutus, not attested else­ where, can be assumed to be Aristophanic invention, patterned (it has been argued) on other myths featuring Zeus' grudge against benefactors of humanity such as Prometheus and Asclepius.12 As a result of Zeus' 'envious' action in these tales and in Plutus' account, a happy period for mortals ends and gives way to the present world of toil and hardship. But besides illustrating the present state of affairs, Zeus' blinding of Plutus serves a valuable function in the comedy. It is a brilliant mytho­ logical twist that first brings together the two unrelated and opposing traditions about the god of wealth. 11 N. J. RICHARDSON. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter (Oxford 1974: here­ after 'Richardson') ad 489 and pp.26-30; W. Burkert, Homo Necans: The An­ thropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth, tr. P. Bing (Berkeley 1983) 289 n.73; R. SEAFORD, "Sophokles and the Mysteries," Hermes 122 (1994: 'Seaford') 277. 12 See H.-J. Newiger. Metapher und Allegorie: Studien zu Aristophanes (=Zetemata 16 [Munich 1957]) 167f, 176. Already the scholiast (ad Plut. 87) recognized that the consequences of Plutus' blindness resemble Zeus' reaction to Prometheus' deception: he concealed earth's bounty from the mortals (Hes. Opt 42ff). The blinding of Plutus is construed as Aristophanic variation on a theme in A. M. Bowie, Aristophanes: Myth, Ritual, and Comedy (Cambridge 1993) 271 f, who further notes (281 ff) the parallel between Plutus and Prometheus. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 236 FROM ECONOMY TO POETICS IN AR. PLUTUS By inventing the blindness of Plutus by Zeus, therefore, Aristophanes integrates the two contradictory conceptions of Plutus into one overarching picture that implies a development over time: youth and sight give way to old age and blindness. 13 The two pre-existing static images make up a new synthesis of mythical traditions. The restoration of Plutus' eyesight in the play, in order to redress the wrong done to the god's image by blame poetry, must effect a return to that blessed age when Plutus could see (1ta.AlV ... W01t£P Kat. 1tPO tou, 95).14 In Aristophanic mythopoeia, that return can only make sense as an evocation of the Eleusinian portrayal of Plutus. It is not necessary of course to point out that this comedy is not unique in alluding to the Mysteries. Aristophanes can skillfully draw on the repertory of Eleusinian imagery, the Frogs being the most obvious example. Hence it would not come as a surprise if this play also evoked the mythical and ritual atmosphere of Eleusis. In fact, the mystical background may illustrate another feature of Plutus' cure: as the epiphany of the divine child is said to be highlighted by-or even identified with-the appearance of the mystic light at night (VuKtOe; ... {mo 1tOAAip 1tupi, Hippo!. Haer. 5.8.40), it may not be an accident that the moment of Plutus' cure after his incubation coincides with the brightness of dawn (EOle; Ot£Aall'l'£V 11ll£pa, 744). 15 Similarly, his healed pupils give him a new brightness (E~OlIl­ jla.tOltat Kat. A£Aa.jl1tPUVtat Kopae;, 635; cf 144).16 Plutus returns to his previous condition, which reflects the manner of his epiphany in the Mysteries, as experienced by the initiates. t3 Heberlein (131£, 150) also remarks on the two opposing representations of Plutus and associates the seeing Plutus in the play with the child Plutus in the cult of Demeter. 14 This return to a blessed past (cf 117, 126,221,460, 779, 866, 1192) is stressed by Heberlein 131£; cf the emphatic OOE'Y'YO". Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PAVLOS SFYROERAS 237 In addition to the emphasis on light and brightness, the recovery of the god's eyesight has in itself important connota­ tions that also point to the Mysteries, for vision frequently emerges as an essential part of the mystical experience. The highest degree of initiation, for instance, is termed epopteia, and the sources are consistent in using verbs of seeing (e.g. i&'iv, opav, o£p1C£o8al) to describe the initiate's participation in the ceremonies (Hymn. Hom. Cer. 480££; Pindar fro 137a Snell­ Maehler; Soph. fro 837 Pearson-Radt; Eur. H F 613),17 Beyond the centrality of eyesight, the causal relationship that the comic plot establishes between vision (for the god) and wealth (for the mortals) echoes the experience of the initiates, which ultimately equates seeing the rites and being blessed with wealth (Hymn. Hom. Cer. 480-89). Yet even more striking than these allusions-and crucial for the present argument-is that the divine child of the Mysteries, often construed as the god Plutus, is alternatively identified in antiquity with Persephone's son, Iacchus. 18 But at least as early as the latter part of the fifth century, Iacchus is also imagined as the Eleusinian manifestation of Dionysus. 19 The affinity of Iacchus-Dionysus with the rehabilitated Plutus is therefore established via their role as the divine child, which seems to be ingrained in the Eleusinian Mysteries. The affinity between the two deities in the play derives precisely from their role in the Mysteries. It is crucial for the comedy, as we shall see, so it is corroborated by several allu­ sions to mystical language and ceremonies interspersed through­ out the play, in addition to the imagery of light already men­ tioned. An early hint at the atmosphere of the Mysteries comes in the exchange between Chremylos and the chorus, after Karion informs them of the old man's identity. Chremylos asks the chorus to assist him by becoming "truly saviors of the god" (oc.o'tftp£~ ov'tc.o~ 'tou 8eou, 327), and the first word in the old men's response is a reassuring "take courage" (8app£t, 328). A virtually identical collocation of words is attested in a mystic 17 See L. DWBNER, Attische Feste (Berlin 1932: hereafter 'Deubner') 78; Seaford (supra n.ll) 275 with n.2, 277. t8 Richardson 27, 316-20; BURKERT (supra n.11) 289 with n.72, and Greek Religion, tr. J. Raffan (Cambridge [Mass.] 1985: hereafter 'Burkert, GR') 288; Seaford 276£. 19 On Iacchus and Dionysus see Richardson 26-30; Seaford 276, 278; Burkert (supra n.ll: 279) notes Dionysus' increased presence at Eleusis in the fourth century. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 238 FROM ECONOMY TO POETICS IN AR. PLUTUS context: a Christian polemicist describes how the pagan priest exhorts the initiands to take courage from the god's salvation (8CXpPEl'tE ~J:UO'tCXl 'tOU 8EOU OEOro0Jl.EVOU).20 This exhortation follows the introduction of light, just as the salvation in Plutus' case is tantamount to the restoration of the 'light' in his eyes, as we saw. More mystic terms turn up in the description of Plutus' therapy, when Karion relates how they took Plutus to the shrine of Asclepius (653-58): ~ ya.p 'tUXlO't' acpucoflE9a 1tpOC; 'tOY 9EOV ayov'tEC; avopa 'to'tE flEV a9AlOna'tov vuv 0' d nv' aAAov flaICuPWV ICEuoaiflova 1tpCihov flEV au'tov E1tt 9uAa't'tav llyoflEv, E1tEl't' EAOUflEV. fuvT!' vTt ~i' EuoaiflO>v ap' ~v avTtp YEPO>V 'l'UXP~ 9aMoon AoUflEVOC;. The key words Jl.CXICaplOC; and Eu8cxlJl.roV (655, 657) are often used to define the frame of mind of those initiated in mystical rites. 21 More generally, the motif of the transition from a past misery ('t01:E Jl.EV o.8AlOO'tCX1:0V, 654) to a present bliss (vuv 8', 655) conforms to the mystic formula £cpuyov KCXKOV dlPOV a.Jl.EtVOV, which Demosthenes (De Cor. 259) associates with the rites of Sabazius. These expressions are not particular to the Eleusinian Mysteries, to be sure, and there is an intrinsic affinity beween the rituals of therapy in Asclepius' shrine and the general pattern of mystical initiation, including initiation at Eleusis. 22 But the Eleusinian atmosphere is specifically recalled when Plutus is made to bathe in the sea. Washing with water from a spring or well is part of the standard preraration for incubation, but Pluto 656£ is the only evidence 0 a sea bath before therapy at Asclepius' shrine. The sea bath, which does not fail to shock Chremylos' wife (657f), is out of place in Asclepius' cult and 20 Firm. Mat. Err. prof reL 22. Seaford (supra 0.16: 258) argues that this ex­ hortation, associated by Firm. Mat. with pagan mysteries in general, applies in particular to the liberation of Dionysus. On the mystical associations of Oappiiv see Seaford 258 with n.56. 21 00 these terms, which also occur elsewhere in the play (629, 802), see e.g. Seaford (supra 0.16) 253. We may add the stem 9tao- in Penia's abusive ~'IlV9t­ aoma 'tOU AllP£'iv lCal napmmtEtv (508). 22 See Burkert, GR, 268 with n. 54 on therapy and the Eleusinian Mysteries; on connections between Asclepius and Eleusis see E. J. and L. Edelstein, Asclepius: A Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies (Baltimore 1945) II 127ff, 246. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PAVLOS SFYROERAS 239 hence evokes the well-known prerequisite of Eleusinian ini tiation. 23 In addition to this more or less generic affinity between the therapy of Plutus and mystical experience, more explicit allusions to the Eleusinian Mysteries accumulate after the new rule of Plutus has been secured towards the end of the play. The atmosphere of the Mysteries is conjured up, for instance, when Karion giddily asks the Just Man whether he was initiated in the cloak that he is now about to dedicate to Plutus (845 with 1:). The filthy, tattered cloak cannot have been the pure white garment worn at the initiation, as Karion knows (see I1&V). Therefore, his rhetorical question seems rather to be intended as a reminder of the Mysteries.24 A similar allusion is the old woman's account of the way she was wrongfully beaten by her former lover at the time of the Mysteries (1013f with 1:), which serves solely to keep the memory of Eleusis constantly in the background. Even the final jokes of the play (1197-1207), when Chremylos first commands the old woman to carryon her head the pots for the installation of the god and then makes fun of her, have been interpreted as a playful allusion to the Eleu­ sinian ceremony of kernophoria or liknophoria. 25 All these Eleusinian allusions, sustained throughout the play, cannot but bring to mind the Eleusinian Plutus and his affinity with Dionysus. The restoration of Plutus' eyesight in the comedy transforms the blind, contemptible beggar into the benevolent, brilliant Plutus of the Mysteries, who is aligned 23 For examples of washing before incubation see Ael. Aristid. 29.1-18; 39.14f; on the sea bath of the Eleusinian initiands see Burkert (supra n.ll) 258; Deubner 72, 75. 24 On the line see S. L. Radt, ·Zu Aristophanes' Plutos, " Mnemosyne SER. 4 29 (1976) 263f; Rogers (supra n.15) ad loco Without reducing the force of the allusion to the Mysteries, K. Dover (Aristophanes' Frogs [Oxford 1993] 62£) adds a layer to the joke: "a frugal Athenian .. , would be strongly tempted to wear old clothes for initiation, knowing that he was expected to sacrifice them by dedication." 2S See C. Rolley, "Les marrnites sur la tete (a propos de la fin du Ploutos)," REG 79 (1966) xivf; other possible Eleusinian allusion are: (i) the triple refer­ ence to Hekate (594-97, 764, 1070), on whose role at Eleusis see Deuhner 74; Richardson 84, 155ff, 168f, 293ff; (ii) the role of Iaso (701): the cure that restores Plutus to his original healthy condition parallels thus his birth to !asion, the consort of Demeter at Hes. Th. 969ff; cf West (supra n.10) 422f; Richardson 31M. Health and wealth are also linked in a Dionysiac frame, as plouthygieia is a concern of the sympotic scolia; witness the sympotic context at Vesp. 677; cf Eq. 1091;A'lI. 731. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 240 FROM ECONOMY TO POETICS IN AR. PLUTUS with Iacchus. 26 The recovery of Plutus is thus coextensive with his transfiguration into a mystical deity that is the Eleusinian manifestation of Dionysus. This transfiguration is finally confirmed in the concluding procession (1190-96), which escorts Plutus off the stage, accompanied by the light of torches. The exodus offers a visual replication of the procession that escorts Iacchus to Eleusis. 27 But there is more to it than that, because it also recalls a ceremony, from a Dionysiac context this time, that brings Dionysus and Plutus together. During the procession at the Lenaea, at the instigation of the torch-bearer (dadouchos) to call on the god (1Ca.A£l 8EOV), the worshipers invoke "Iacchus, son of Semele, giver of wealth" (rEIlEAi}t' "Iu1CXE 1tAOU'tOOO'tU).28 Chremylos' injunction 'tOY IIAoU'tOV E~ro 'ttc; 1Ca.AEt (1196), the torches (1193), the procession itself, all seem to point to the Lenaea. The allusion would acquire more weight if we could determine the festival of the P[utus. Although nothing in the play rules out the Lenaea, the present argument does not hinge on that. 29 The important thing is that, in addition to their links in the Eleusinian context, which serves as the background of the play, Plutus and Dionysus are close to each other in a Dionysiac festival. II These associations between the new Plutus and Dionysus are not explored in the play merely for their own sake. Rather, the comic poet uses them to touch upon questions of theater and its poetics, in particular the relations of different genres that co­ exist in the context of the same festival. It is not only that Plutus, much like Dionysus, is acknowledged to be the recipi- 26 Heberlein (132 n.50) even sees a rejuvenation of Plutus after his cure, similar to that of Demos in the Knights. This would reinforce the link of Plutus' cure and birth (see supra n.25), but it is neither certain nor crucial to the argument. A new costume and mask, however, are virtually certain, as noted by L. STONE, Costume in Aristophanic Poetry (New York 1981: hereafter 'Stone') 402. 27 Richardson 165-68; Burkert (supra n.11) 279f; for the importance of torches in the Mysteries see further Seaford 276 and (supra n.16) 256ff; Bur­ kert, GR 267ff, 276 with n.7, 281 with n.34, 288. 28 r.Ran. 479; on cultic affinities between the Eleusinia and the Lenaea see Deubner 125ff. 29 C. F. Russo,Aristophanes:An Author for the Stage, tr. K. Wren (London 1994) 227, 237f. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PAVLOS SFYROERAS 241 ent and patron of musical contests (Plut. 1160-63), nor that Plutus' eyesight, so central in the comic plot, penetrates into the core of theater, for the very word 6£ll'tpOV defines the theatrical phenomenon in terms of seeing. There is room for a more refined and better defined view of the relationship between Plutus and Dionysus. We can take for a starting point the section of the play that analyzes the merits of Plutus more systematically, namely the debate between Plutus' proponents, Chremylos and Blep­ sidemos. and his opponent. Penia (425-626). This part has prob­ ably received the lion's share of scholarly attention. primarily because of the seeming inconsistencies in the characters' argu­ mentation.30 It is an important section indeed. and its structural position in the play underlines its centrality. It forms a digres­ sion framed by the two declarations of the comic characters' intention to take Plutus to Asclepius' shrine. Specific verbal echoes ('tov 6£ov £YKll'tCXKAtVOUV't' ... £~ 'AOKA1l7ttoU ... Jlll Olll­ 'tpipcoJl£v, 620-23. harking back to KCX'tCXKAlV£tV (l'\Jtov de; 'AOKA'T17ttoU .. , Jlll Ot6:tptpE, 411H) underscore the frame around the debate: after Penia is driven away in defeat. the two comic characters pick up exactly where they left off before she stormed the stage. In this sense. the debate is more than an agon. Its digressive character makes it also into a quasi-para­ basis. especially as a large part of it (487- 597) is composed in the anapestic tetrameters that are very often used in the parabasis of other comedies. Furthermore. this long agonistic interlude acquires its parabatic flavor by providing. as we shall see. a fas­ cinating reflection on comedy and on its tense but symbiotic relationship with its neighboring dramatic genre. tragedy.31 Amidst the arguments on the respective merits of Wealth and Poverty. we can. in light of Dionysus' presence. gain a new in- ]Q See e.g. Konstan and Dillon; Sommerstein 317ff, 327-30. 31 Anapestic tetrameters can also be used in the agon (e.g. Nub. 957-1008; Vesp. 546-620), offering thus a formal link between the agon and the parabasis. For the most complete recent study of the parabasis see T. K. HUB­ BARD, The Mask of Comedy: Aristophanes and the Intertextual Parabasis (Ithaca 1991: hereafter 'Hubbard') esp. 16-33, who views it as a "very dynam­ ic and essential form ... continually evolving and changing in both structure and content" and as ·central to the drama's cognitive self-realization as both a literary and a social event" (17). Although Hubbard focuses on the early plays and only discusses the Eeel. in an appendix (246-51), his case for a flexible parabasis has important implications for the 'parabatic' material in the Plutus. Also in line with his picture of a more integrated parabasis, I use the term ·digressive" not in a negative, but in a purely descriptive sense. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 242 FROM ECONOMY TO POETICS IN AR. PLUTUS sight into these figures. This additional perspective may have been immediately salient to the viewers of the performance through mask and costume. We cannot recover the precise visual impact of these figures on the audience, yet we still possess a clue in the words of Blepsidemos that describe Penia as some Erinys from a tragedy with a "mad and tragic" sort of look (422-25): Xp' au 0' d -dc;; cOxpa jlEv yap dvat jlm oOlcEic;. BA' tao><; 'EptvuC; £O'tlV £lC 'tpaycpBiac;' ~Ai1tEt YE 'tOt jlaVtlCOV 'tl lCal 'tpaycpBtlCov. Xp' «AA' OUlC EXEt ~oac;. BA. OUlCOUV KAaUOE'tat. Clearly Penia is perceived not only as an Erinys in general, but more specifically as a tragic Erinys and hence a representative of tragedy.32 The paratragic elements in the context are not enough to point to a particular tragic representation of the Erinyes.33 But even though one cannot connect the Erinys-like Penia with a specific tragedy, it may be fruitful to compare her with the chorus of the Eumenides, a production that had made a deep impression on the Athenians. 34 Like the Aeschylean Erinyes (Eum. 34-38), Poverty looks grim and terrifying enough to put people to flight (Plut. 417, 438-44). She is pale like them (Eum. 416), and "manic" (Eum. 67,500). Further, her appearance on stage is odd enough to make Chremylos and Blepsidemos wonder about her identity (Plut. 422), very much like the appearance of Erinyes, which confuses the Delphic 32 Heberlein (166 n.l72) interprets cOxpa (422) as a reference to philosophy, rhetoric, and their practitioners' contempt of wealth; cf Nub. 103, 1017, 1111 f; on the sophistic traits of Penia in general see Heberlein 170-74. Penia has also been described as the «reality principle": Olson 235; see below. For a discussion of the allegorized personification of wealth and poverty see Newiger (supra n.12) 155-78. 33 The dialogue after Penia's entrance (415ff) is one of the few paratragic passages in the play and may echo Eur. Med. 1121£; cf P. Rau, Paratragoidia (=Zetemata 45 [Munich 1967]) 208. One might add Penia's complaint (l;l1'tO:UV'tI:~ h: 1taOl1~ 11£ XcOpa~ h:~aA.£'iv, 430), which seems to echo Medea's predicament (1tplv av O£ yaia~ 'tEPl1ovrov E~ro ~aA.ro, Me d. 276). Also in Chremylos' first words (422) after Penia's arrival, the use of yap to explain an implied but not expressed thought (< for you seem livid") is a feature frequent in tragedy; cf Radt (supra n.24) 25M. 34 1. Taillardat, Les images d'Aristophane (Paris 1962) 212f. Some of the fol­ lowing parallels are noted by R. Cantarella, • Aristoph., Pluto 422-25 e la ri­ prese eschilee," AttiLinc 8.20 (1965) 363-81, esp. 363-66 for Penia's pallor and madness. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PAVLOS SFYROERAS 243 Pythia and Athena (Eum. 48-59, 406-14, esp. 408: 'ttVEe; 1to't' EatE;). In fact, the seeds of the analogy between Poverty and the Erinyes seem to be inherent in their Aeschylean portrayal: they threaten to impair the fertility of the land (Eum. 478f, 782-87; eJ. 800-03), just as Penia here advocates an austere and meagre living. In any case, the present argument does not depend on a paratragic allusion specifically to Aeschylus' tragedy.35 The crucial point remains that Penia is perceived as a figure from the tragic stage, thus evoking the atmosphere of tragedy. If Penia can be construed as a representative of tragedy, it is then reasonable that her polar opponents should stand on the side of comedy. As a matter of fact, Penia later addresses Chremylus and Blepsidemus in very pointed terms, which ex­ plore the opposition between tragedy and comedy (557-61): OlCO>1tU:tv 1tElpf! Kat KCOJlq>OEtV 'tou a1touoa~ElV UJlEAftaa~, ou 'Yl"{VcOOKCOV on'tou [JAOU'tOU 1tap£xco f3EAtlova~ avopa~ Kat 'tTtV yvcOJll1V Kat 'tTtV io£av' 1tapa 'till JleV 'Yap 1tOOa'Yp&V'tE~ Kat yaa'tprooEl~ Kat 1taXUlCVl1JlOl Kal. 1tlOV£~ Eiatv uaEA'Y&~, 1tap' EJlot 0' icrxvot Kat crOElV. By contrast, the stem of CJ1tOUOa~Etv, the activity that the two comic characters are accused of neglecting, is part of the famous Aristotelian definition of tragedy (~i~llCJte; 1tpa~Eroe; CJ1touoaiae; Kal.tEAdae;, Poet. 1449b24f). Its weight can be gauged on the basis of its exclusiveness: CJ1tOUOalOv is the sole term in the definition that refers to the contents of the tragic genre. In addition, Aristotle (1448a2-5) describes the characters of tragedy as CJ1tOUOalOt and PEA'ttOVEe;, both used by Penia in 35 Cantarella (supra n.34) even suggests that the poet's idea of assimilating Penia to a tragic Erinys may have been inspired by a revival of the Oresteia in the years immediately before the Plutus, but his discussion is vitiated by his insistence that the Aeschylean Erinyes did not carry torches; see Olson's criticism: 233 n.36. Further, although it is true that the memory of Aeschylus' tragedy is alive at the time of the Frogs, at least partly, no doubt, due to the Athenian decree that permitted the reproduction of his plays after his death (Ran. 867; cf. A. Pickard-Cambridge, The Dramatic Festivals of Athens 2 [Oxford 1968] 86, 99f), Aeschylean allusion in the Plutus is far from necessary. r.Plut. 423 mentions, for instance, also the possibility of Eur. Or. 36 For an excellent discussion of the generic dimensions of (J1Ccllltt£lv see A. T. Edwards, «Aristophanes' Comic Poetics: tP<>~, Scatology, (JlcroJlJl