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Plutus, a MythSource painting
Greek

Plutus

Giver of Wealth · Bestower of Riches · God of Abundance

01Identity

Plutus in Greek tradition

Wealth and agricultural prosperity define Plutus, the Greek deity of riches and abundance. He is associated with the cornucopia, grain, fruit, and a purse of money. Plutus differs from Pluto, a ritual title for Hades, whose name refers to the god of the Underworld and, in some usage, to his realm.

Top questions

The quick answers

02Family

Plutus’s family, at a glance

Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.

IasionDemeter
Plutus
03The names

The names Plutus answers to

Ploutos

The Greek form of his name

SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

Plutus

The Latinized form of Ploutos

SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

Ploutodotes

Bestower of wealth

SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

04The myths

The myths of Plutus

1 myth, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.

The Birth of Plutus

Demeter and Iasion left the wedding feast of Cadmus and Harmonia and went into a field in Crete. After drinking nectar, they lay together openly in a field that had been ploughed three times. Demeter later gave birth to Plutus. His name means Wealth, and his wealth is connected with successful harvests.

When they returned to the feast, Zeus guessed what had happened from their manner and from the mud on their arms and legs. He was enraged that Iasion had approached Demeter, so he struck Iasion with a thunderbolt. The account also says that Zeus killed Iasion after learning of the union. Demeter survived and gave birth to Plutus in Crete.

The story connects the threefold ploughing of the field with the union and childbirth. It also connects Plutus's birth with the harvest. A related account says that Iasion wanted to violate Demeter, but that she willingly slept with him. Other accounts give a different explanation for Iasion's death. In these versions, his brother Dardanus killed him, or his own horses tore him to pieces. The accounts therefore differ over both the nature of the union and the manner of Iasion's death.

The Birth of Plutus, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

No modern rework confirmed yet.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-18

  1. 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
  2. 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “Demeter and Iasion went into a field ploughed three times, and after their union Demeter gave birth to Plutus, while Zeus killed Iasion with a thunderbolt.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

  3. 3The Greek MythsT1

Also appears in

The myths across MythSource where Plutus features, each on that figure’s page.

The film

The Underdrawing video on Plutus embeds here once it publishes.