Wealth Reaction

Tim Dahms

Wealth was written by Aristophanes for an unknown competition in

408 BCE. How it fared is unknown as well. Chremylos, the main character,

is an old main who

has gone to an oracle to find out why he is having financial troubles despite

his work ethic. According to the oracle's advice, he takes a blind beggar off

the street, who turns out to be the god of wealth. After restoring his

eyesight, Athens is turned upside-down as economic redistribution happens

instantaneously. The play is set entirely in Athens. Also key to the plot is

Delphi, home of the oracle Chremylos has seen prior to the events of the

play. A more specific location important to the play is the Temple of

Asclepius, where Wealth's eyesight is restored.

A major theme in this play is justice in the Athenian society. In the

opening scene of the play, Chremylos decries the unfairness of his situation

as he is “a just and godfearing man, and yet I've always been poor and

unsuccessful … While others have prospered: temple robbers, politicians,

informers, rascals.” (ln. 26-31) He later finds that the god of wealth is blind,

indicating that wealth is distributed randomly and that economic injustices

are commonplace. Given Aristophanes' record, this is an unsurprising state

for Athens to be in. As in most of his plays, those who are in power are

cheats and liars, and honest folk are condemned to dealing with the

outcomes of their leaders' moral failings. However, I think this play is

probably the most clear-cut indictment of the Athenian sociopolitical

structure as a whole. Whereas other plays have taken on specific aspects of

Athens that are problematic - like warmongering in Akharnians, the legal

system in Wasps, and the Sophists in Clouds, Wealth is a more totalizing

indictment of the state of affairs in Aristophanes' Athens. This is because

his discussion of economics is also a discussion of power (as the two are

inseparable), and it gives him the opportunity to boil down all his problems

with Athens as simply as possible: that the amoral Athenians have all the

wealth and power, and the virtuous are cast by the wayside. Although this is

undoubtedly a comedic overstatement, it is of the kind displayed in his

previous plays where a very real problem in Athens is taken to its extreme.

Another major theme relating to economics in this play is inequality.

Before Chremylos has the opportunity to restore sight to Wealth, he is

confronted by an ugly goddess named Poverty. She argues that equal

distribution of wealth will bring about a society in which “no one will

practice the arts and crafts … who will want to do the smithing or ship

building or tailoring...” (ln 510-512) When Chremylos replies that slaves will

do all the work, Poverty retorts by questioning him as to why anyone would

become a slave trader when wealth is already abundant. Aristophanes,

though he believes wealth is unjustly distributed, once again argues for the

usefulness of social stratification. His reasoning is that the possibility of

poverty is what motivates work and prevents laziness. His two themes of

justice and inequality come together to form the message that, while

Athenian society should have some sort of unequal wealth distribution, it

should be based on merit, and it is currently favoring the unjust.

My favorite joke from the play was when Chremylus is conversing

with the Old Woman and Young Man, and the Young Man suggests that

Chremylus play with his testicles (ln. 1056). Given Athenians' established

propensity for overt sexual humor, I would imagine the various back-and-

forth bits of sarcastic dialogue found interspersed in the play to be popular.

A question I'm left asking after reading this play is: What was the actual

distribution of wealth in Athens like?