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Χρεμύλος

φανερὸν μὲν ἔγωγʼ οἶμαι γνῶναι τοῦτʼ εἶναι πᾶσιν ὁμοίως,

ὅτι τοὺς χρηστοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων εὖ πράττειν ἐστὶ δίκαιον,
490

τοὺς δὲ πονηροὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀθέους τούτων τἀναντία δήπου.

τοῦτʼ οὖν ἡμεῖς ἐπιθυμοῦντες μόλις ηὕρομεν, ὥστε γενέσθαι

βούλευμα καλὸν καὶ γενναῖον καὶ χρήσιμον εἰς ἅπαν ἔργον.

ἢν γὰρ ὁ Πλοῦτος νυνὶ βλέψῃ καὶ μὴ τυφλὸς ὢν περινοστῇ,

ὡς τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων βαδιεῖται κοὐκ ἀπολείψει,
495

τοὺς δὲ πονηροὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀθέους φευξεῖται· κᾆτα ποιήσει

πάντας χρηστοὺς καὶ πλουτοῦντας δήπου τά τε θεῖα σέβοντας.

καίτοι τούτου τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τίς ἂν ἐξεύροι ποτʼ ἄμεινον;

Βλεψίδημος

οὐδείς· τούτου μάρτυς ἐγώ σοι· μηδὲν ταύτην γʼ ἀνερώτα.

Χρεμύλος

ὡς μὲν γὰρ νῦν ἡμῖν ὁ βίος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διάκειται,
500

τίς ἂν οὐχ ἡγοῖτʼ εἶναι μανίαν κακοδαιμονίαν τʼ ἔτι μᾶλλον;

πολλοὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὄντες πλουτοῦσι πονηροί,

ἀδίκως αὐτὰ ξυλλεξάμενοι· πολλοὶ δʼ ὄντες πάνυ χρηστοὶ

πράττουσι κακῶς καὶ πεινῶσιν μετὰ σοῦ τε τὰ πλεῖστα σύνεισιν.

οὔκουν εἶναί φημʼ, εἰ παύσει ταύτην βλέψας ποθʼ ὁ Πλοῦτος,
505

ὁδὸν ἥντινʼ ἰὼν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀγάθʼ ἄν μείζω πορίσειεν.

Πενία

ἀλλʼ ὦ πάντων ῥᾷστʼ ἀνθρώπων ἀναπεισθέντʼ οὐχ ὑγιαίνειν

δύο πρεσβύτα, ξυνθιασώτα τοῦ ληρεῖν καὶ παραπαίειν,

εἰ τοῦτο γένοιθʼ ὃ ποθεῖθʼ ὑμεῖς, οὔ φημʼ ἂν λυσιτελεῖν σφῷν.

εἰ γὰρ ὁ Πλοῦτος βλέψειε πάλιν διανείμειέν τʼ ἴσον αὑτόν,
510

οὔτε τέχνην ἂν τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὔτʼ ἂν σοφίαν μελετῴη

οὐδείς· ἀμφοῖν δʼ ὑμῖν τούτοιν ἀφανισθέντοιν ἐθελήσει

τίς χαλκεύειν ἢ ναυπηγεῖν ἢ ῥάπτειν ἢ τροχοποιεῖν,

ἢ σκυτοτομεῖν ἢ πλινθουργεῖν ἢ πλύνειν ἢ σκυλοδεψεῖν,

ἢ γῆς ἀρότροις ῥήξας δάπεδον καρπὸν Δηοῦς θερίσασθαι,
515

ἢν ἐξῇ ζῆν ἀργοῖς ὑμῖν πάντων ἀμελοῦσιν;

Χρεμύλος

λῆρον ληρεῖς. ταῦτα γὰρ ἡμῖν πάνθʼ ὅσα νῦν δὴ κατέλεξας

οἱ θεράποντες μοχθήσουσιν.

Πενία

πόθεν οὖν ἕξεις θεράποντας;

Χρεμύλος

ὠνησόμεθʼ ἀργυρίου δήπου.

Πενία

τίς δʼ ἔσται πρῶτον ὁ πωλῶν,

ὅταν ἀργύριον κἀκεῖνος ἔχῃ;
520

Χρεμύλος

κερδαίνειν βουλόμενός τις

ἔμπορος ἥκων ἐκ Θετταλίας παρὰ πλείστων ἀνδραποδιστῶν.

Πενία

ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἔσται πρῶτον ἁπάντων οὐδεὶς οὐδʼ ἀνδραποδιστὴς

κατὰ τὸν λόγον ὃν σὺ λέγεις δήπου. τίς γὰρ πλουτῶν ἐθελήσει

κινδυνεύων περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς τῆς αὑτοῦ τοῦτο ποιῆσαι;

ὥστʼ αὐτὸς ἀροῦν ἐπαναγκασθεὶς καὶ σκάπτειν τἄλλα τε μοχθεῖν
525

ὀδυνηρότερον τρίψεις βίοτον πολὺ τοῦ νῦν.

Χρεμύλος

ἐς κεφαλὴν σοί.

Πενία

ἔτι δʼ οὐχ ἕξεις οὔτʼ ἐν κλίνῃ καταδαρθεῖν, οὐ γὰρ ἔσονται,

οὔτʼ ἐν δάπισιν· τίς γὰρ ὑφαίνειν ἐθελήσει χρυσίου ὄντος;

οὔτε μύροισιν μυρίσαι στακτοῖς ὁπόταν νύμφην ἀγάγησθον.

οὔθʼ ἱματίων βαπτῶν δαπάναις κοσμῆσαι ποικιλομόρφων.
530

καίτοι τί πλέον πλουτεῖν ἐστιν τούτων πάντων ἀποροῦντας;

παρʼ ἐμοῦ δʼ ἔστιν ταῦτʼ εὔπορα πάνθʼ ὑμῖν ὧν δείσθον· ἐγὼ γὰρ

τὸν χειροτέχνην ὥσπερ δέσποινʼ ἐπαναγκάζουσα κάθημαι

διὰ τὴν χρείαν καὶ τὴν πενίαν ζητεῖν ὁπόθεν βίον ἕξει.

Wealth. Aristophanes. ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart. Oxford. 1907.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Πλοῦτος (Greek) (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 2. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.)

Translations (2)

Wealth (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 489 focus

Chremylus

It is right that 490 the good should be happy, that the wicked and the impious, on the other hand, should be miserable; that is a truth, I believe, which no one will gainsay. To realize this condition of things is a proposal as great as it is noble and useful in every respect, and we have found a means of attaining the object of our wishes. If Plutus recovers his sight and ceases from wandering about unseeing and at random, 495 he will go to seek the just men and never leave them again; he will shun the perverse and ungodly; so, thanks to him, all men will become honest, rich and pious. Can anything better be conceived for the public weal?

Blepsidemus

Of a certainty, no! I bear witness to that. It is not even necessary she should reply.

Chremylus

500 Does it not seem that everything is extravagance in the world, or rather madness, when you watch the way things go? A crowd of rogues enjoy blessings they have won by sheer injustice, while more honest folks are miserable, die of hunger, and spend their whole lives with you. 505 Now, if Plutus became clear-sighted again and drove out Poverty, it would be the greatest blessing possible for the human race.

Poverty

Here are two old men, whose brains are easy to confuse, who assist each other to talk rubbish and drivel to their hearts' content. But if your wishes were realized, your profit would be great! 510 Let Plutus recover his sight and divide his favours out equally to all, and none will ply either trade or art any longer; all toil would be done away with. Who would wish to hammer iron, build ships, sew, turn, cut up leather, bake bricks, bleach linen, tan hides, 515 or break up the soil of the earth with the plough and garner the gifts of Demeter, if he could live in idleness and free from all this work?

Chremylus

What nonsense all this is! All these trades which you just mention will be plied by our slaves.

Poverty

Your slaves! And by what means will these slaves be got?

Chremylus

We will buy them.

Poverty

But first say, who will sell them, 520 if everyone is rich?

Chremylus

Some greedy dealer from Thessaly —the land which supplies so many.

Poverty

But if your system is applied, there won't be a single slave-dealer left. What rich man would risk his life to devote himself to this traffic? 525 You will have to toil, to dig and submit yourself to all kinds of hard labour; so that your life would be more wretched even than it is now.

Chremylus

May this prediction fall upon yourself!

Poverty

You will not be able to sleep in a bed, for no more will ever be manufactured; nor no carpets, for who would weave them, if he had gold? When you bring a young bride to your dwelling, you will have no essences wherewith to perfume her, 530 nor rich embroidered cloaks dyed with dazzling colors in which to clothe her. And yet what is the use of being rich, if you are to be deprived of all these enjoyments? On the other hand, you have all that you need in abundance, thanks to me; to the artisan I am like a severe mistress, who forces him by need and poverty to seek the means of earning his livelihood.

English (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) Experimental (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) — 489 focus

Chremylus: I think it is clear to all alike that I have come to know this,

Chremylus: that it is just for the good men of men to fare well,

490

Chremylus: As for the wicked and the impious among them, surely they must have the opposite.

Chremylus: Therefore, we, desiring this, found it with difficulty, so that it might come to be.

Chremylus: a noble and generous and useful plan for every task.

Chremylus: For if Wealth now looks out and, being not blind, goes about,

Chremylus: as he walks among the good people and will not abandon them,

495

Chremylus: But he will flee the wicked and the godless; and then he will make

Chremylus: Surely all good and wealthy people, both those who reverence the divine things.

Chremylus: Yet who could ever find for these people a better one?

Blepsydemus: No one; I am a witness to this for you; do not ask her about this at all.

Chremylus: For as things now stand for us, the life of men is arranged,

500

Chremylus: Who would not consider it madness and a greater misfortune?

Chremylus: For many wicked people are rich, though they are men,

Chremylus: unjustly they gathered them; for though they were many, they were very good men

Chremylus: They fare badly and are hungry along with you, and most of them come to visit.

Chremylus: I do not say that he will be, if Wealth once sees this and stops it,

505

Chremylus: What road he might take to procure greater goods for men.

Poverty: But oh, having been persuaded most easily of all men not to be well

Poverty: two old men, companions in babbling and going mad,

Poverty: If this were to happen which you desire, I say it would not be profitable for you.

Poverty: for if Wealth were to see again and distribute himself equally,

510

Poverty: neither would she study any art of men nor wisdom.

Poverty: No one; but both of you, these two, being destroyed, will wish.

Poverty: Who is to forge or to build ships or to sew or to turn on the lathe,

Poverty: either to cut leather, or to make bricks, or to wash, or to sew shoes,

Poverty: or after breaking up the ground with ploughs, to reap the harvest of Demeter,

515

Poverty: Should you be allowed to live idly while everyone neglects [things]?

Chremylus: You are talking nonsense. For all these things that you have just now listed are ours.

Chremylus: The servants will suffer.

Poverty: Then from where will you have servants?

Chremylus: We will surely buy some silver.

Poverty: Who will be the first to sell?

Poverty: "Even when he himself has money?"

520

Chremylus: someone wanting to make a profit

Chremylus: a merchant who has come from Thessaly from most slave-traders.

Poverty: But no one will be first of all, nor will anyone be a slave-catcher.

Poverty: According to the argument you are making, surely. For who would be willing to become rich?

Poverty: 'Does he risk his own soul to do this?'

Poverty: So that he, being compelled to dig himself and to toil at other things as well.

525

Poverty: You will grind out a more painful life than the present one.

Chremylus: 'To the head, to you.'

Poverty: You will still not have even the opportunity to be beaten on a couch, for there will not be any.

Poverty: Not even in the bedrooms; for who would be willing to weave, since gold exists?

Poverty: neither to anoint oneself with dripping perfumes whenever one leads a bride.

Poverty: nor to adorn with expenses of dyed garments of varied shapes.

530

Poverty: Yet what is there more to be wealthy than to be in want of all these things?

Poverty: but with me these things are abundant for you all of which you desire; for I

Poverty: Sitting down, forcing the artisan to wait on me like a mistress.

Poverty: because of need and poverty, to seek from where one will have a livelihood.

Commentary

Commentary (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) focus

522. mvp-tlg0019-tlg011-sanjaya-com-eng1-10

Line 522

ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἔσται πρῶτον ἁπάντων οὐδεὶς οὐδʼ ἀνδραποδιστὴς

The triple negative construction (οὐδʼ... οὐδεὶς... οὐδʼ) creates a double negative that, in the context of Aristophanic comedy and the specific logical force of the sentence, functions as a strong positive assertion: 'But no one, not even a slave-catcher, will be the first [to be poor].' The syntax relies on the emphatic reinforcement of οὐδέ to exclude the extreme case (slave-catchers, who profited from the previous era of poverty and war) from the list of those who will experience poverty first, thereby highlighting the universal reversal of fortune under the rule of Plutus. This is a classic example of the 'negative of the extreme' (negatio extremi) used for comic hyperbole.

529. mvp-tlg0019-tlg011-sanjaya-com-eng1-11

Line 529

οὔτε μύροισιν μυρίσαι στακτοῖς ὁπόταν νύμφην ἀγάγησθον.

The construction ὁπόταν with the future indicative (ἀγάγησθον, a form of ἀγείρω used here with a future sense in the optative mood due to the potential or generalizing force of ὁπόταν in this specific comedic context, though often treated as a future indicative in the main clause logic) creates a rare temporal clause where the verb is in the optative with ὁπόταν, a combination that is exceptionally rare in Attic prose but attested in comedy to express a generalized future condition. The form ἀγάγησθον is a future optative (or a conflation of future indicative and optative in the transmitted text) meaning 'whenever they should lead a bride,' highlighting the conditional nature of the inability to anoint oneself.

Aristophanes Wealth 489

ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart

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Βλεψίδημος

οὐδείς· τούτου μάρτυς ἐγώ σοι· μηδὲν ταύτην γʼ ἀνερώτα.

Χρεμύλος

λῆρον ληρεῖς. ταῦτα γὰρ ἡμῖν πάνθʼ ὅσα νῦν δὴ κατέλεξας

οἱ θεράποντες μοχθήσουσιν.

Πενία

πόθεν οὖν ἕξεις θεράποντας;

Χρεμύλος

ὠνησόμεθʼ ἀργυρίου δήπου.

Πενία

τίς δʼ ἔσται πρῶτον ὁ πωλῶν,

ὅταν ἀργύριον κἀκεῖνος ἔχῃ;
520

Χρεμύλος

κερδαίνειν βουλόμενός τις

ἔμπορος ἥκων ἐκ Θετταλίας παρὰ πλείστων ἀνδραποδιστῶν.

Χρεμύλος

ἐς κεφαλὴν σοί.

Current edition Perseus

Blepsidemus

Of a certainty, no! I bear witness to that. It is not even necessary she should reply.

Chremylus

What nonsense all this is! All these trades which you just mention will be plied by our slaves.

Poverty

Your slaves! And by what means will these slaves be got?

Chremylus

We will buy them.

Poverty

But first say, who will sell them, 520 if everyone is rich?

Chremylus

Some greedy dealer from Thessaly —the land which supplies so many.

Poverty

But if your system is applied, there won't be a single slave-dealer left. What rich man would risk his life to devote himself to this traffic? 525 You will have to toil, to dig and submit yourself to all kinds of hard labour; so that your life would be more wretched even than it is now.

Chremylus

May this prediction fall upon yourself!

Commentary

Line 522

Line 529

Stable identifiers

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Βλεψίδημος οὐδείς· τούτου μάρτυς ἐγώ σοι· μηδὲν ταύτην γʼ ἀνερώτα.

Χρεμύλος λῆρον ληρεῖς. ταῦτα γὰρ ἡμῖν πάνθʼ ὅσα νῦν δὴ κατέλεξας οἱ θεράποντες μοχθήσουσιν.

Πενία πόθεν οὖν ἕξεις θεράποντας;

Χρεμύλος ὠνησόμεθʼ ἀργυρίου δήπου.

Πενία τίς δʼ ἔσται πρῶτον ὁ πωλῶν, ὅταν ἀργύριον κἀκεῖνος ἔχῃ; 520

Χρεμύλος κερδαίνειν βουλόμενός τις ἔμπορος ἥκων ἐκ Θετταλίας παρὰ πλείστων ἀνδραποδιστῶν.

Χρεμύλος ἐς κεφαλὴν σοί.

Current edition Perseus

Blepsidemus Of a certainty, no! I bear witness to that. It is not even necessary she should reply.

Chremylus What nonsense all this is! All these trades which you just mention will be plied by our slaves.

Poverty Your slaves! And by what means will these slaves be got?

Chremylus We will buy them.

Poverty But first say, who will sell them, 520 if everyone is rich?

Chremylus Some greedy dealer from Thessaly —the land which supplies so many.

Poverty But if your system is applied, there won't be a single slave-dealer left. What rich man would risk his life to devote himself to this traffic? 525 You will have to toil, to dig and submit yourself to all kinds of hard labour; so that your life would be more wretched even than it is now.

Chremylus May this prediction fall upon yourself!

Commentary

Line 522

Line 529

Stable identifiers

Βλεψίδημος

οὐδείς· τούτου μάρτυς ἐγώ σοι· μηδὲν ταύτην γʼ ἀνερώτα.

Χρεμύλος

λῆρον ληρεῖς. ταῦτα γὰρ ἡμῖν πάνθʼ ὅσα νῦν δὴ κατέλεξας

οἱ θεράποντες μοχθήσουσιν.

Πενία

πόθεν οὖν ἕξεις θεράποντας;

Χρεμύλος

ὠνησόμεθʼ ἀργυρίου δήπου.

Πενία

τίς δʼ ἔσται πρῶτον ὁ πωλῶν,

ὅταν ἀργύριον κἀκεῖνος ἔχῃ;
520

Χρεμύλος

κερδαίνειν βουλόμενός τις

ἔμπορος ἥκων ἐκ Θετταλίας παρὰ πλείστων ἀνδραποδιστῶν.

Χρεμύλος

ἐς κεφαλὴν σοί.

Blepsidemus

Of a certainty, no! I bear witness to that. It is not even necessary she should reply.

Chremylus

What nonsense all this is! All these trades which you just mention will be plied by our slaves.

Poverty

Your slaves! And by what means will these slaves be got?

Chremylus

We will buy them.

Poverty

But first say, who will sell them, 520 if everyone is rich?

Chremylus

Some greedy dealer from Thessaly —the land which supplies so many.

Poverty

But if your system is applied, there won't be a single slave-dealer left. What rich man would risk his life to devote himself to this traffic? 525 You will have to toil, to dig and submit yourself to all kinds of hard labour; so that your life would be more wretched even than it is now.

Chremylus

May this prediction fall upon yourself!