Πλούτων

Forms

Πλούτων (Ploútōn) m (genitive Πλούτωνος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek πλοῦτος (ploûtos, “wealth”) + -ων (-ōn),^[1][2] with the suffix of names such as Χάρων (Khárōn).^[2] Beekes explains it as the god of riches in the sense of the stores of grain kept under the earth, and Hesychius records that the surplus of barley and wheat was called πλοῦτος.^[3] The noun πλοῦτος is from Ancient Greek πλέω (pléō, “to sail, float”), from an older sense “flow, abundance”, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *plew- (“to flow, swim”).^[3]

Among ancient writers, Plato's Cratylus calls it a gentler name for Hades, since wealth comes up out of the earth.^[4][5] The Etymologicum Magnum says Hades was called so either because the dead, like the rich, need nothing, or because wealth comes from the earth.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The name first appears, probably, in an Attic inscription of about 500 BC connected with the Eleusinian cult.^[5] In literature it is found first in tragedy, as a name of the god of the underworld.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

Πλούτων was a second name of the god known in early poetry as Ἅιδης (Haídēs), not an epithet of him, and the Greeks never treated the two as different gods.^[5] The names were used differently: Hades received almost no cult, while Pluto was regularly worshipped together with Kore and Demeter, and all the early evidence for him comes from Attica and the mysteries of Eleusis.^[5] Plato's explanation of the name as a hopeful, euphemistic one was widely followed, and Smith notes that ordinary speech and the mysteries used Pluto while the poets kept the older name.^[5][8] In art he is a mature man with a sceptre and often a horn of plenty.^[5]

Aeschylus gives the name to a mythical river flowing with gold, and Demetrius of Phalerum joked that Attic miners were trying to haul Pluto himself up from below.^[7][5] Sophocles and Aristophanes identify him with Plutus, the personified Wealth.^[4][5] The adjective Πλουτώνιος (Ploutṓnios) means “of Pluto”.^[4]

Latin took the name as Latin Plūtō, from which English Pluto comes.^[9] Modern Greek Πλούτων (Ploúton) (also Πλούτωνας) names both the god and the planet.^[2]

Timeline

• About 500 BC – An Attic inscription probably records the name, the earliest evidence for it.^[5]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound gives the name to a mythical river carrying gold.^[7][5][10]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles and Euripides call the god of the underworld Pluto.^[4][7][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes identifies him with Plutus, the god of riches, and Plato explains the name as “giver of wealth”.^[4][5][10]
• 12th century AD – The Etymologicum Magnum explains the name as a reference to the wealth that comes from the earth.^[6]
• 1930 – A newly discovered planet is named Pluto, which Modern Greek calls Πλούτων (Ploúton).^[9][2]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. Pluto, a name of Ἅιδης (Haídēs), the god of the underworld.^[4][7][5]
2. Pluto identified with Plutus, the god of riches.^[4][5]
3. (Aeschylus) A mythical river flowing with gold.^[7][5]

Word family

• Πλουτώνιος (Ploutṓnios)

Related words

• πλοῦτος (ploûtos)
• Latin Plūtō
• English Pluto

Usage notes

Hesychius glosses the name as “the spirit beneath the earth”, and the Suda as Hades, quoting the scene of Aristophanes' Frogs in which Pluto hands Aeschylus a rope to take back to the living.^[11][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
3. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ Smith, William, ed. (1873), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
11. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
12. ^ Adler, Ada, ed. (1928–1938), Suidae Lexicon, 5 vols, Leipzig: Teubner