Editing Pluto (mythology) (section)

=== Orphic and philosophical systems ===
The Orphic theogonies are notoriously varied,<ref>Gábor Betegh, ''The Derveni Papyrus: Cosmology, Theology and Interpretations'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 151, has noted that "one cannot establish a linear descent between the different versions"; though efforts to do so have been made, "we cannot find a single [[mytheme]] which would occur invariably in all the accounts and could thus create the core of all Orphic theogonies."</ref> and Orphic cosmology influenced the varying [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] theogonies of [[late antiquity]].<ref>J. van Amersfoort, "Traces of an Alexandrian Orphic Theogony in the Pseudo-Clementines," in ''Studies in Gnosticism and Hellenistic Religions, Presented to [[Gilles Quispel]] on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday'' (Brill, 1981), p. 13.</ref> [[Clementine literature]] (4th century AD) preserves a theogony with explicit Orphic influence that also draws on [[Hesiod]], yielding a distinctive role for Pluto. When the primordial elements came together by orderly cyclonic force, they produced a generative sphere, the "egg" from which the primeval Orphic entity [[Phanes (mythology)|Phanes]] is born and the world is formed. The release of Phanes and his ascent to the heavenly top of the [[world egg|world-egg]] causes the matter left in the sphere to settle in relation to weight, creating the tripartite world of the traditional theogonies:<ref>Van Amersfoort, "Traces of an Alexandrian Orphic Theogony," pp. 16–17.</ref>

<blockquote>
Its lower part, the heaviest element, sinks downwards, and is called Pluto because of its gravity, weight, and great quantity (''plêthos'') of matter. After the separation of this heavy element in the middle part of the egg the waters flow together, which they call Poseidon. The purest and noblest element, the fire, is called Zeus, because its nature is glowing (ζέουσα, ''zeousa''). It flies right up into the air, and draws up the spirit, now called [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]], that was left in the underlying moisture. And when this spirit has reached the summit of the [[Aether (classical element)|ether]], it is devoured by Zeus, who in his turn begets the intelligence (σύνεσις, ''[[Synesis|sunesis]]''), also called [[Athena|Pallas]]. And by this artistic intelligence the etherial artificer creates the whole world. This world is surrounded by the air, which extends from Zeus, the very hot ether, to the earth; this air is called [[Hera]].<ref>Van Amersfoort, "Traces of an Alexandrian Orphic Theogony," pp. 17–18. Betegh, ''The Derveni Papyrus'', p. 151, summarizes this version as follows: "The story starts with Chaos; then comes the egg; the bottom part of the egg submerges and becomes Pluton, and Kronos – not a separate god but identified with [[Chronos]] – swallows this heavy matter. The middle part, covering the first sediment, becomes Poseidon. The upper part of the egg, being purer and lighter, fiery in nature, goes upward and is called Zeus, and so forth."</ref>
</blockquote>

This cosmogony interprets Hesiod allegorically, and so the heaviest element is identified not as the Earth, but as the netherworld of Pluto.<ref>Van Amersfoort, "Traces of an Alexandrian Orphic Theogony," p. 23; Betegh, ''The Derveni Papyrus'', p. 150.</ref> (In modern [[geochemistry]], [[Plutonium#Discovery|plutonium]] is the heaviest [[primordial element]].) Supposed etymologies are used to make sense of the relation of physical process to divine name; ''Plouton'' is here connected to ''plêthos'' (abundance).<ref>[[Arthur Bernard Cook]], ''Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion'' (Cambridge University Press, 1925), p. 746.</ref>

In the [[Stoicism|Stoic system]], Pluto represented the lower region of the [[Air (classical element)|air]], where according to [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] (1st century AD) the soul underwent a kind of [[purgatory]] before ascending to the ether.<ref>Cornutus 5; Varro, ''De lingua latina'' 5.66 (on Dis); Seneca, ''Consolatio ad Marciam'' 25; all as cited by Joseph B. Mayor, ''De natura deorum libri tres'' (Cambridge University Press, 1883), vol. 2, p. 175, note to 2.26.66.</ref> Seneca's contemporary Cornutus made use of the traditional etymology of Pluto's name for Stoic theology. The Stoics believed that the form of a word contained the original truth of its meaning, which over time could become corrupted or obscured.<ref>R.M. van den Berg, ''Proclus' Commentary on the'' Cratylus'' in Context: Ancient Theories of Language and Naming'' (Brill, 2008), pp. 34–35.</ref> ''Plouton'' derived from ''ploutein'', "to be wealthy," Cornutus said, because "all things are corruptible and therefore are 'ultimately consigned to him as his property.'"<ref>David Dawson, ''Allegorical Readers and Cultural Revision in Ancient Alexandria'' (University of California Press, 1992), p. 33, citing ''Epidrome'' 5.5.7–9.</ref>

Within the [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagorean]] and [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] traditions, Pluto was allegorized as the region where souls are purified, located between the Moon (as represented by Persephone) and the Sun.<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''The Face of the Moon'', [[LacusCurtius]] edition of the [[Loeb Classical Library]] translation [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/The_Face_in_the_Moon*/D.html online], as discussed by Leonard L. Thompson, "ISmyrna<!--sic--> 753: Gods and the One God," in ''Reading Religions in the Ancient World: Essays Presented to Robert McQueen Grant on His 90th Birthday'' (Brill, 2007), p. 113, with reference also to [[Iamblichus]]. See also Van den Berg, ''Proclus' Commentary'', p. 49, with reference to Plutarch, ''On the ''E'' at Delphi''.</ref> Neoplatonists sometimes interpreted the Eleusinian Mysteries as a ''fabula'' of celestial phenomena:

<blockquote>
Authors tell the fable that Ceres was Proserpina's mother, and that Proserpina while playing one day was kidnapped by Pluto. Her mother searched for her with lighted torches; and it was decreed by Jupiter that the mother should have her daughter for fifteen days in the month, but Pluto for the rest, the other fifteen. This is nothing but that the name Ceres is used to mean the earth, called Ceres on analogy with ''crees'' ('you may create'), for all things are created from her. By Proserpina is meant the moon, and her name is on analogy with ''prope serpens'' ('creeping near'), for she is moved nearer to the earth than the other planets. She is called earth's daughter, because [[Earth (classical element)|her substance has more of earth]] in it than of the other [[classical elements|elements]]. By Pluto is meant the shadow that sometimes obstructs the moon.<ref>This interpretation is attributed to the Greek Neoplatonist [[Numenius of Apamea|Numenius]] (2nd century AD), by the French [[Scholasticism|scholastic]] [[William of Conches]], as cited and translated by [[Peter Dronke]], ''Fabula: Explorations into the Uses of Myth in Medieval Platonism'' (Brill, 1985), p. 54.</ref>
</blockquote>

==== Plouton Helios ====
[[File:Caravaggio Jupiter Neptune Pluto vertical.jpg|thumb|left|''Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto'', ceiling mural (''ca.'' 1597) by [[Caravaggio]] (see description under [[#Fine art|Fine art below)]]]]
A dedicatory inscription from [[Smyrna]] describes a 1st–2nd century sanctuary to "God Himself" as the most exalted of a group of six deities, including clothed statues of ''Plouton Helios'' and ''Koure Selene'', "Pluto the Sun" and "Kore the Moon."<ref>Thompson, "ISmyrna 753," p. 101ff. The other deities are ''Helios Apollon'', who is paired with [[Artemis]] (p. 106); Zeus, who is subordinated to "God Himself"; and [[Men (god)|Mēn]], an Anatolian moon deity sometimes identified with [[Attis]], who had a table before him for ceremonial dining (pp. 106, 109).</ref> The status of Pluto and Kore as a divine couple is marked by what the text describes as a "linen embroidered bridal curtain."<ref>Thompson, "ISmyrna 753," pp. 104–105.</ref> The two are placed as bride and groom within an enclosed temple, separately from the other deities cultivated at the sanctuary.

''Plouton Helios'' is mentioned in other literary sources in connection with ''Koure Selene'' and ''Helios Apollon''; the sun on its nighttime course was sometimes envisioned as traveling through the underworld on its return to the east. [[Apuleius]] describes a rite in which the sun appears at midnight to the initiate at the gates of Proserpina; it has been suggested that this midnight sun could be ''Plouton Helios''.<ref>Thompson, "ISmyrna 753," p. 111.</ref>

The Smyrna inscription also records the presence of ''Helios Apollon'' at the sanctuary. As two forms of Helios, Apollo and Pluto pose a dichotomy:
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;"
! Helios Apollon !! Plouton Helios
|-
| One || Many
|-
| clarity || invisibility
|-
| bright || dark
|-
| memory || oblivion<ref>Thompson, "ISmyrna 753," pp. 110–111, 114, with reference to the teachings of [[Ammonius of Athens|Ammonius]] as recorded by [[Plutarch]], [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/misctracts/plutarchE.html ''The E at Delphi''.] The relevant passage (21) is: "This appears from the names, in themselves opposite and contradictory. He is called Apollo, another is called Pluto; he is Delius (apparent), the other Aidoneus (invisible); he is Phoebus (bright), the other Skotios (full of darkness); by his side are the [[Muses]], and [[Mnemosyne|Memory]], with the other are Oblivion and Silence; he is Theorius and Phanæus, the other is 'King of dim Night and ineffectual Sleep'." See also Frederick E. Brenk, "Plutarch's Middle Platonic God," ''Gott und die Götter bei Plutarch'' (Walter de Gruyter, 2005), pp. 37–43, on Plutarch's etymological plays that produce these antitheses.</ref>
|}
It has been argued that the sanctuary was in the keeping of a [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagorean]] [[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#sodalitas|sodality or "brotherhood"]]. The relation of Orphic beliefs to the mystic strand of Pythagoreanism, or of these to [[Platonism]] and [[Neoplatonism]], is complex and much debated.<ref>Thompson, "ISmyrna 753," ''passim'', conclusion presented on p. 119. Thompson bases his argument on the particular collocation of deities at the sanctuary, and explicating theological details in the inscription through comparative material. See also [[Neoplatonism and Gnosticism]].</ref>

==== Plutonius ====
[[File:Serapis.JPG|thumb|left|Serapis with moon and sun on oil lamp]]
In the [[Hellenistic era]], the title or epithet ''Plutonius'' is sometimes affixed to the names of other deities. In the [[Hermetica|Hermetic Corpus]],<ref>In the Latin dialogue ''Asclepius'' sometimes attributed to [[Apuleius]]; see B.L. Hijmans, "Apuleius, Philosophus Platonicus," ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' II.36.1 (1987), p. 441, ''et passim'' on the question of authorship.</ref> Jupiter Plutonius "rules over earth and sea, and it is he who nourishes mortal things that have soul and bear fruit."<ref>[[File:Bardo Baal Thinissut.jpg|thumb|75px|[[Baal-Hammon]] ]]''Terrae vero et mari dominatur Iupiter Plutonius, et hic nutritor est animantium mortalium et fructiferarum'' (''Asclepius'' 27), noted by G.F. Hildebrand, ''L. Apuleii Opera Omnia'' (Leipzig, 1842), p. 314, as equivalent to the Pluto described by [[Gaius Valerius Flaccus|Valerius Flaccus]], ''Argonautica'' 1.780, where, however, the god is called Dis and not Pluto. Translation from Brian P. Copenhaver, ''Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius'' (Cambridge University Press, 1992, 2002), p. 83; see also note to the passage p. 245. Influence from [[Africa (Roman province)|Roman Africa]], particularly the figure of [[Baal-Hammon]], may explain this particular syncretism; [[Jean-Pierre Mahé]], ''Le fragment du "Discours parfait" dans la Bibliothèque de Nag Hammadi'', ''Colloque International sur les textes de Nag hammadi (Québec, 22–25 août 1978)'' (Éditions Peeters, 1981), p. 310.</ref>

In [[History of Alexandria#Ptolemaic era|Ptolemaic Alexandria]], at the site of a dream oracle, [[Serapis]] was identified with Aion Plutonius.<ref>[[Alexander romance|Pseudo-Callisthenes]], I.30–33, as cited by Jarl Fossum, "The Myth of the Eternal Rebirth: Critical Notes on G.W. Bowersock, ''Hellenism in Late Antiquity''," ''Vigiliae Christianae'' 53.3 (1999), p. 309, note 15. On the oracle and for the passage in which Aion Plutonius is named, see Irad Malkin, ''Religion and Colonization in Ancient Greece'' (Brill, 1987), p. 107, especially note 87.</ref> [[Gilles Quispel]] conjectured that this figure results from the integration of the Orphic Phanes into [[Mithraic mysteries|Mithraic religion]] at Alexandria, and that he "assures the eternity of the city," where the birth of [[Aion (deity)|Aion]] was celebrated at the sanctuary of Kore on 6 January.<ref>"On this day and at this hour the Virgin gave birth to Aion": [[Gilles Quispel]], "Hermann Hesse and Gnosis," in ''Gnostica, Judaica, Catholica: Collected Essays'' (Brill, 2008), p. 258, noting that this date coincided with [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] and was a new year's celebration.</ref> In Latin, ''Plutonius'' can be an [[adjective]] that simply means "of or pertaining to Pluto."<ref>As at [[Horace]], ''Carmen'' 1.4.17, where the ''domus ... Plutonia'' renders in Latin the Greek phrase "house of Hades."</ref>

==== Neoplatonic demiurge ====
The Neoplatonist [[Proclus]] (5th century AD) considered Pluto the third [[demiurge]], a [[Sublunary sphere|sublunar]] demiurge who was also identified variously with Poseidon or [[Hephaestus]]. This idea is present in [[Renaissance Neoplatonism]], as for instance in the cosmology of [[Marsilio Ficino]] (1433–99),<ref>Entry on "Demiurge," ''The Classical Tradition'' (Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 256.</ref> who translated Orphic texts into Latin for his own use.<ref>Entry on "Orpheus," ''The Classical Tradition'', p. 665. It was even said that the soul of Orpheus had been reborn into Ficino.</ref> Ficino saw the sublunar demiurge as "a [[daimon|daemonic]] 'many-headed' [[sophist]], a [[magus]], an enchanter, a fashioner of images and reflections, a [[Shapeshifting|shape-changer]] of himself and of others, a poet in a way [[being|of being and of not-being]], a royal Pluto." This demiurgic figure identified with Pluto is also "'a purifier of souls' who presides over the magic of love and generation and who uses a fantastic counter-art to mock, but also ... to supplement, the divine [[Jacopo Mazzoni#Theory|icastic or truly imitative art]] of the [[Sublime (philosophy)|sublime]] translunar Demiurge."<ref>Entry on "Demiurge," in ''The Classical Tradition'' p. 256.</ref>