| Title: | Obolus |
| Original Title: | Danaqué |
| Volume and Page: | Vol. 4 (1754), p. 620 |
| Author: | Denis Diderot (biography) |
| Translator: | Malcolm Eden [University of London] |
| Subject terms: |
Mythology
|
| Original Version (ARTFL): | Link |
| Rights/Permissions: |
This text is protected by copyright and may be linked to without seeking permission. Please see http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/terms.html for information on reproduction. |
| URL: | http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0000.913 |
| Citation (MLA): | Diderot, Denis. "Obolus." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Malcolm Eden. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2009. Web. [fill in today's date in the form 18 Apr. 2009 and remove square brackets]. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0000.913>. Trans. of "Danaqué," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 4. Paris, 1754. |
| Citation (Chicago): | Diderot, Denis. "Obolus." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Malcolm Eden. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0000.913 (accessed [fill in today's date in the form April 18, 2009 and remove square brackets]). Originally published as "Danaqué," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, 4:620 (Paris, 1754). |
Obolus or obol, this is what the Greeks called the coin that was placed in the mouths of the dead, and with which they had to pay Charon for their passage into the underworld. Attributing a value to money even in the next world was not exactly the best means for turning men’s appetite away from wealth.