THE SATYRICON OF PETRONIUS ARBITER- Introduction

THE SATYRICON OF PETRONIUS ARBITER

The Satyricon, Satyricon liber (The Book of Satyrlike Adventures), or Satyrica,is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manu*********** tradition identifies the author as Titus Petronius. The Satyricon is an example of Menippean satire, which is different from the formal verse satire of Juvenal or Horace. The work contains a mixture of prose and verse (commonly known as prosimetrum); serious and comic elements; and erotic and decadent passages. As with The Golden Ass by Apuleius (also called the Metamorphoses),classical scholars often describe it as a Roman novel, without necessarily implying continuity with the modern literary form.

The surviving sections of the original (much longer) text detail the bizarre exploits of the narrator, Encolpius, and his slave and boyfriend Giton, a handsome d boy. It is the second most fully preserved Roman novel, after the fully extant The Golden Ass by Apuleius, which has significant differences in style and plot. Satyricon is also regarded as useful evidence for the reconstruction of how lower classes lived during the early Roman Empire.

The date of the Satyricon was controversial in 19th- and 20th-century scholarship, with dates proposed as varied as the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD. A consensus on this issue now exists. A date under Nero (1st century AD) is indicated by the work’s social background

Principal characters

Encolpius, illustration by Norman Lindsay[4]

Encolpius: The narrator and principal character, moderately well educated and presumably from a relatively elite background

Giton: A handsome boy, a slave and a sexual partner of Encolpius

Ascyltos: A friend of Encolpius, rival for the ownership of Giton

Trimalchio: An extremely vulgar and wealthy freedman

Eumolpus: An aged, impoverished and lecherous poet of the sort rich men are said to hate

Lichas: An enemy of Encolpius

Tryphaena: A woman infatuated with Giton

Corax: A barber, the hired servant of Eumolpus

Circe: A woman attracted to Encolpius

Chrysis: Circe’s servant, also in love with Encolpius

Synopsis

The work is narrated by its central figure, Encolpius, a retired, famous gladiator of the area. The surviving sections of the novel begin with Encolpius traveling with a companion and former lover named Ascyltos, who has joined Encolpius on numerous escapades. Encolpius’ slave, Giton, is at his owner’s lodging when the story begins.

Chapters 1–26

In the first passage, Encolpius is in a Greek town in Campania, perhaps Puteoli, where he is standing outside a school, railing against the Asiatic style and false taste in literature, which he blames on the prevailing system of declamatory education (1–2). His adversary in this debate is Agamemnon, a sophist, who shifts the blame from the teachers to the parents (3–5). Encolpius discovers that his companion Ascyltos has left and breaks away from Agamemnon when a group of students arrive (6).

Encolpius then gets lost and asks an old woman for help returning home. She takes him to a brothel which she refers to as his home. There, Encolpius locates Ascyltos (7–8) and then Giton (8), who claims that Ascyltos made a sexual attempt on him (9). After raising their voices against each other, the fight ends in laughter and the friends reconcile but still agree to split at a later date (9–10).