Plutus

Plutus
God of wealth
Eirene holding baby Plutus
SymbolsCornucopia
Personal information
ParentsDemeter and Iasion or Tyche
SiblingsPersephone, Despoina, Arion, Philomelus, Eubuleus, Iacchus

Plutus is the Greek god of wealth. He gives people money and riches.[1]

Family

Plutus is the son of Demeter, the goddess of farming, and Iasion, a mortal man.[2] Some stories say his mother is Tyche, the goddess of luck.[3]

In art

Plutus is often shown as a baby with a cornucopia, which is a horn full of food and riches.[4] Sometimes he is in the arms of Eirene, the goddess of peace, or Tyche, the goddess of fortune.[5]

In stories

In a play by Aristophanes, Plutus is blind so he gives wealth to people without knowing who they are. Later, he gets his sight back and tries to give money only to good people.[6]

In a fable by Phaedrus, Hercules does not greet Plutus because he thinks Plutus gives riches to bad people.[7]

References

  1. Morford, Mark; Lenardon, Robert J. Classical Mythology. Oxford University Press, 2007.
  2. Hesiod, Theogony, line 969.
  3. Phaedrus, Fables, Book 4, Fable 12.
  4. Karl Kerenyi, Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter, Princeton University Press, 1967.
  5. Istanbul Archaeological Museum, 2nd century AD statue of Tyche and Plutus.
  6. Aristophanes, Plutus (388 BC).
  7. Phaedrus, Fables, Book 4, Fable 12.