Plutos is generally regarded as the dull capstone of Aristophanes' illustrious career and of a genre that has long since left its heyday behind. The present work revises this negative judgement. Through a comprehensive analysis of the historical and cultural background of the play, it demonstrates that the theme of money dealt with in Plutos was highly topical for the Athenian audience of 388 BC. Drawing on modern theories, the author examines the comedy of the play and analyses it not only scene by scene, but also with a view to the whole. A comic plot is worked out that is not only characteristic of Pluto, but of every comedy by Aristophanes. The mode of action of comedy in Old Comedy is thus described in a fundamentally new way and the understanding of the genre in this respect is placed on a new foundation. The reinterpretation of Pluto proves the play to be a direct critique of the times in the tradition of 5th century Old Comedy.
Hauke Schneider, Christian-Albrechts-Universit"t zu Kiel.
