Dinero y política en Atenas como motivo cómico en las Vidas paralelas de Plutarco

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the way the statesmen of classical Athens make use of
their money and wealth according to Plutarch’s view in Parallel Lives, to determine
the consequences of this approach in the general characterization of the biographies.
Plutarch is against luxury and excessive money expenditures (this entails greed,
ambition, manipulation and corruption of the people), attitudes that he observes in
Athenian politician; nevertheless, on the basis of the moral objective of his work,
Plutarch deals with the topic by introducing quotes and allusions of Old Comedy, so
he can mitigate the criticism towards the Athenian leaders, because they are, above
all, models for his readers. By means of this strategy, Plutarch is able to join his labor
as philosopher and as biographer, combining his ethical (theoretical) ideas and the
practical actions he describes. This strategy also supposes a critical reader who can
decipher successfully Plutarch’s complex narrative device.