The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
work of fiction believed to have been written by
Gaius Petronius
Gaius Petronius or Publius Petronius (c. 75 BC – after 20 BC) was the second and then fourth Prefect of Roman Aegyptus.
History
Petronius led a campaign into present-day central Sudan against the Kingdom of Kush at Meroë, whose Kandake ...
, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petronius. The ''Satyricon'' is an example of
Menippean satire
The genre of Menippean satire is a form of satire, usually in prose, that is characterized by attacking mental attitudes rather than specific individuals or entities. It has been broadly described as a mixture of allegory, picaresque narrative, and ...
, which is different from the formal verse satire of
Juvenal
Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the ''Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...
or
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
. The work contains a mixture of prose and verse (commonly known as ); serious and comic elements; and erotic and decadent passages. As with ''
The Golden Ass
The ''Metamorphoses'' of Apuleius, which Augustine of Hippo referred to as ''The Golden Ass'' (''Asinus aureus''), is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety.
The protagonist of the novel is Lucius. At the end of the no ...
'' by
Apuleius
Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern-day ...
(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 (possible) slave and boyfriend Giton, a handsome sixteen-year-old 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 Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
.
Principal characters
* Encolpius: The narrator and principal character, moderately well educated and presumably from a relatively elite background
* Giton: A handsome sixteen-year-old boy, a (possible) slave and a sexual partner of Encolpius
* Ascyltos: A friend of Encolpius, rival for the ownership of Giton
*
Trimalchio
Trimalchio is a character in the 1st-century AD Roman work of fiction ''Satyricon'' by Petronius. He features as the ostentatious, nouveau-riche host in the section titled the "Cēna Trīmalchiōnis" (The Banquet of Trimalchio, often translated as ...
: 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. 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 preserved, Encolpius is in a Greek town in
Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
, perhaps
Puteoli
Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula.
History
Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...
, where he is standing outside a school, railing against the
Asiatic style
The Asiatic style or Asianism ( la, genus orationis Asiaticum, Cicero, ''Brutus'' 325) refers to an Ancient Greek rhetorical tendency (though not an organized school) that arose in the third century BC, which, although of minimal relevance at the ...
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
A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...
, 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). Later, Encolpius tries to have sex with Giton, but he's interrupted by Ascyltos, who assaults him after catching the two in bed (11). The three go to the market, where they are involved in a convoluted dispute over stolen property (12–15). Returning to their lodgings, they are confronted by
Quartilla
Quartilla is a character in the ''Satyricon'' which is said to be the "first picaresque" novel in Latin although it is not completely extant. This story was written by Petronius, Petronius Arbiter in the first century. Quartilla is a follower of t ...
, a devotee of
Priapus
In Greek mythology, Priapus (; grc, Πρίαπος, ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term ...
, who condemns their attempts to pry into the cult's secrets (16–18).
The companions are overpowered by Quartilla, her maids, and an aged male prostitute, who sexually torture them (19–21), then provide them with dinner and engage them in further sexual activity (21–26). An orgy ensues and the sequence ends with Encolpius and Quartilla exchanging kisses while they spy through a keyhole at Giton sexually assaulting a seven-year-old virgin girl; and finally sleeping together (26).
This section of the Satyricon, regarded by classicists such as Conte and Rankin as emblematic of
Menippean satire
The genre of Menippean satire is a form of satire, usually in prose, that is characterized by attacking mental attitudes rather than specific individuals or entities. It has been broadly described as a mixture of allegory, picaresque narrative, and ...
, takes place a day or two after the beginning of the extant story. Encolpius and companions are invited by one of Agamemnon's slaves, to a dinner at the estate of
Trimalchio
Trimalchio is a character in the 1st-century AD Roman work of fiction ''Satyricon'' by Petronius. He features as the ostentatious, nouveau-riche host in the section titled the "Cēna Trīmalchiōnis" (The Banquet of Trimalchio, often translated as ...
, a
freedman
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
of enormous wealth, who entertains his guests with ostentatious and grotesque extravagance. After preliminaries in the baths and halls (26–30), the guests (mostly freedmen) enter the dining room, where their host joins them.
Extravagant courses are served while Trimalchio flaunts his wealth and his pretence of learning (31–41). Trimalchio's departure to the toilet (he is incontinent) allows space for conversation among the guests (41–46). Encolpius listens to their ordinary talk about their neighbors, about the weather, about the hard times, about the public games, and about the education of their children. In his insightful depiction of everyday Roman life, Petronius delights in exposing the vulgarity and pretentiousness of the illiterate and ostentatious wealthy of his age.
After Trimalchio's return from the lavatory (47), the succession of courses is resumed, some of them disguised as other kinds of food or arranged to resemble certain
zodiac
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...
signs. Falling into an argument with Agamemnon (a guest who secretly holds Trimalchio in disdain), Trimalchio reveals that he once saw the
Sibyl of Cumae
The Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples, Italy. The word ''sibyl'' comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word ''sibylla'', meaning prophetess. There were many sibyl ...
, who because of her great age was suspended in a flask for eternity (48).
Supernatural stories about a
werewolf
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...
(62) and witches are told (63). Following a lull in the conversation, a stonemason named
Habinnas
Habinnas is one of the guests at Trimalchio's Feast ('' Cena Trimalchionis'') in the ''Satyricon'' of Petronius Arbiter. He is described as a stonemason, who has designed the luxurious tomb that Trimalchio shows off to his guests, and like Trimalch ...
arrives with his wife Scintilla (65), who compares jewellery with Trimalchio's wife Fortunata (67). Then Trimalchio sets forth his will and gives Habinnas instructions on how to build his monument when he is dead (71).
Encolpius and his companions, by now wearied and disgusted, try to leave as the other guests proceed to the baths, but are prevented by a porter (72). They escape only after Trimalchio holds a mock funeral for himself. The , mistaking the sound of horns for a signal that a fire has broken out, burst into the residence (78). Using this sudden alarm as an excuse to get rid of the sophist Agamemnon, whose company Encolpius and his friends are weary of, they flee as if from a real fire (78).
Chapters 79–98
Encolpius returns with his companions to the inn but, having drunk too much wine, passes out while Ascyltos takes advantage of the situation and seduces Giton (79). On the next day, Encolpius wakes to find his lover and Ascyltos in bed together naked. Encolpius quarrels with Ascyltos and the two agree to part, but Encolpius is shocked when Giton decides to stay with Ascyltos (80). After two or three days spent in separate lodgings sulking and brooding on his revenge, Encolpius sets out with sword in hand, but is disarmed by a soldier he encounters in the street (81–82).
After entering a picture gallery, he meets with an old poet, Eumolpus. The two exchange complaints about their misfortunes (83–84), and Eumolpus tells how, when he pursued an affair with a boy in
Pergamon
Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a ...
while employed as his tutor, the youth wore him out with his own high libido (85–87). After talking about the decay of art and the inferiority of the painters and writers of the age to the old masters (88), Eumolpus illustrates a picture of the capture of
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...
by some verses on that theme (89).
This ends when those who are walking in the adjoining colonnade drive Eumolpus out with stones (90). Encolpius invites Eumolpus to dinner. As he returns home, Encolpius encounters Giton, who begs him to take him back as his lover. Encolpius finally forgives him (91). Eumolpus arrives from the baths and reveals that a man there (evidently Ascyltos) was looking for someone called Giton (92).
Encolpius decides not to reveal Giton's identity, but he and the poet fall into rivalry over the boy (93–94). This leads to a fight between Eumolpus and the other residents of the (95–96), which is broken up by the manager Bargates. Then Ascyltos arrives with a municipal slave to search for Giton, who hides under a bed at Encolpius's request (97). Eumolpus threatens to reveal him but after much negotiation ends up reconciled to Encolpius and Giton (98).
Chapters 99–124
In the next scene preserved, Encolpius and his friends board a ship, along with Eumolpus's hired servant, later named as Corax (99). Encolpius belatedly discovers that the captain is an old enemy, Lichas of
Tarentum Tarentum may refer to:
* Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras)
**See also History of Taranto
* Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...
. Also on board is a woman called Tryphaena, by whom Giton does not want to be discovered (100–101). Despite their attempt to disguise themselves as Eumolpus's slaves (103), Encolpius and Giton are identified (105).
Eumolpus speaks in their defence (107), but it is only after fighting breaks out (108) that peace is agreed (109). To maintain good feelings, Eumolpus tells the story of a widow of
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
. At first she planned to starve herself to death in her husband's tomb, but she was seduced by a soldier guarding
crucified
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
corpses, and when one of these was stolen she offered the corpse of her husband as a replacement (110–112).
The ship is wrecked in a storm (114). Encolpius, Giton, and Eumolpus get to shore safely (as apparently does Corax), but Lichas is washed ashore drowned (115). The companions learn they are in the neighbourhood of
Crotona
Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and '' comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages u ...
, and that the inhabitants are notorious legacy-hunters (116). Eumolpus proposes taking advantage of this, and it is agreed that he will pose as a childless, sickly man of wealth, and the others as his slaves (117).
As they travel to the city, Eumolpus lectures on the need for elevated content in poetry (118), which he illustrates with a poem of almost 300 lines on the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
between
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
and
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
(119–124). When they arrive in Crotona, the legacy-hunters prove hospitable.
Chapters 125–141
When the text resumes, the companions have apparently been in Crotona for some time (125). A maid named Chrysis flirts with Encolpius and brings to him her beautiful mistress Circe, who asks him for sex. However, his attempts are prevented by impotence (126–128). Circe and Encolpius exchange letters, and he seeks a cure by sleeping without Giton (129–130). When he next meets Circe, she brings with her an elderly enchantress called Proselenos who attempts a magical cure (131). Nonetheless, he fails again to make love, as Circe has Chrysis and him flogged (132).
Encolpius is tempted to sever the offending organ, but prays to
Priapus
In Greek mythology, Priapus (; grc, Πρίαπος, ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term ...
at his temple for healing (133). Proselenos and the priestess Oenothea arrive. Oenothea, who is also a sorceress, claims she can provide the cure desired by Encolpius and begins cooking (134–135). While the women are temporarily absent, Encolpius is attacked by the temple's sacred geese and kills one of them. Oenothea is horrified, but Encolpius pacifies her with an offer of money (136–137).
Oenothea tears open the breast of the goose, and uses its liver to foretell Encolpius's future (137). That accomplished, the priestess reveals a "leather dildo" (), and the women apply various irritants to him, which they use to prepare Encolpius for anal penetration (138). Encolpius flees from Oenothea and her assistants. In the following chapters, Chrysis herself falls in love with Encolpius (138–139).
An aging legacy-huntress named Philomela places her son and daughter with Eumolpus, ostensibly for education. Eumolpus makes love to the daughter, although because of his pretence of ill health he requires the help of Corax. After fondling the son, Encolpius reveals that he has somehow been cured of his impotence (140). He warns Eumolpus that, because the wealth he claims to have has not appeared, the patience of the legacy-hunters is running out. Eumolpus's will is read to the legacy-hunters, who apparently now believe he is dead, and they learn they can inherit only if they consume his body. In the final passage preserved, historical examples of cannibalism are cited (141).
Reconstruction of lost sections
:In the text below ''books'' refers to what modern readers would call ''chapters''.
Although interrupted by frequent gaps, 141 sections of consecutive narrative have been preserved. These can be compiled into the length of a longer novella. The extant portions were supposedly "from the 15th and 16th books" from a notation on a manuscript found in Trau in
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
in 1663 by Petit. However, according to translator and classicist
William Arrowsmith
William Ayres Arrowsmith (April 13, 1924 – February 21, 1992) was an American classicist, academic, and translator.
Life
Born in Orange, New Jersey, the son of Walter Weed Arrowsmith and Dorothy (Ayres) Arrowsmith, William grew up in Wellesle ...
,
: "this evidence is late and unreliable and needs to be treated with reserve, all the more since – even on the assumption that the ''Satyricon'' contained 16 rather than, say, 20 or 24 books – the result would have been a work of unprecedented length."
Still, speculation as to the size of the original puts it somewhere on the order of a work of thousands of pages, and comparisons for length range from '' Tom Jones'' to ''
In Search of Lost Time
''In Search of Lost Time'' (french: À la recherche du temps perdu), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French ...
''. The extant text runs 140 pages in the Arrowsmith edition. The complete novel must have been considerably longer, but its true length cannot be known.
Statements in the extant narrative allows the reconstruction of some events that must have taken place earlier in the work. Encolpius and Giton have had contact with Lichas and Tryphaena. Both seem to have been lovers of Tryphaena (113) at a cost to her reputation (106). Lichas' identification of Encolpius by examining his groin (105) implies that they have also had sexual relations. Lichas' wife has been seduced (106) and his ship robbed (113).
Encolpius states at one point,
: "I escaped the law, cheated the arena, killed a host" (81).
To many scholars, that suggests Encolpius had been condemned for a crime of murder, or more likely he simply feared being sentenced, to fight to his death in the arena. The statement probably is linked to an earlier insult by Ascyltos (9), who called Encolpius a "gladiator". One scholar speculates that Encolpius had been an actual
gladiator
A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
rather than a criminal, but there is no clear evidence in the surviving text for that interpretation.
A number of fragments of Petronius's work are preserved in other authors.
Servius Servius is the name of:
* Servius (praenomen), the personal name
* Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian
* Servius Tullius, the Roman king
* Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist
See ...
cites Petronius as his source for a custom at
Massilia
Massalia (Greek: Μασσαλία; Latin: Massilia; modern Marseille) was an ancient Greek colony founded ca. 600 BC on the Mediterranean coast of present-day France, east of the river Rhône, by Ionian Greek settlers from Phocaea, in Western An ...
of allowing a poor man, during times of plague, to volunteer to serve as a
scapegoat
In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...
, receiving support for a year at public expense and then being expelled.
Sidonius Apollinaris
Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November of an unknown year, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from 5th-century Gaul ...
refers to "Arbiter", by which he apparently means Petronius's narrator Encolpius, as a worshipper of the "sacred stake" of
Priapus
In Greek mythology, Priapus (; grc, Πρίαπος, ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term ...
in the gardens of Massilia. It has been proposed that Encolpius's wanderings began after he offered himself as the scapegoat and was ritually expelled. Other fragments may relate to a trial scene.
Among the poems ascribed to Petronius is an
oracle
An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination.
Description
The word '' ...
predicting travels to the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
and to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. Courtney notes that the prominence of Egypt in the ancient Greek novels might make it plausible for Petronius to have set an episode there, but expresses some doubt about the oracle's relevance to Encolpius's travels,
: "since we have no reason to suppose that Encolpius reached the Danube or the far north, and we cannot suggest any reason why he should have."
Analysis
Date and authorship
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.Harrison (1999), p. xvi. A consensus on this issue now exists. A date under
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
(1st century AD) is indicated by the work's social background and in particular by references to named popular entertainers.
Evidence in the author's style and literary concerns also indicate that this was the period during which he was writing. Except where the ''Satyricon'' imitates colloquial language, as in the speeches of the freedmen at Trimalchio's dinner, its style corresponds with the literary prose of the period. Eumolpus' poem on the Civil War and the remarks with which he prefaces it (118–124) are generally understood as a response to the ''
Pharsalia
''De Bello Civili'' (; ''On the Civil War''), more commonly referred to as the ''Pharsalia'', is a Roman epic poem written by the poet Lucan, detailing the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Gre ...
'' of the Neronian poet
Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...
.
Similarly, Eumolpus's poem on the capture of Troy (89) has been related to Nero's ''Troica'' and to the tragedies of
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature.
Seneca was born in ...
, and parody of Seneca's '' Epistles'' has been detected in the moralizing remarks of characters in the ''Satyricon''. There is disagreement about the value of some individual arguments but, according to S. J. Harrison, "almost all scholars now support a Neronian date" for the work.
The manuscripts of the ''Satyricon'' ascribe the work to a "Petronius Arbiter", while a number of ancient authors (
Macrobius
Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...
,
Sidonius Apollinaris
Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November of an unknown year, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from 5th-century Gaul ...
,
Marius Victorinus Gaius Marius Victorinus (also known as Victorinus Afer; fl. 4th century) was a Roman grammarian, rhetorician and Neoplatonic philosopher. Victorinus was African by birth and experienced the height of his career during the reign of Constantius II. H ...
,
Diomedes
Diomedes (Jones, Daniel; Roach, Peter, James Hartman and Jane Setter, eds. ''Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary''. 17th edition. Cambridge UP, 2006.) or Diomede (; grc-gre, Διομήδης, Diomēdēs, "god-like cunning" or "advised by ...
and
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
) refer to the author as "Arbiter". The name Arbiter is likely derived from Tacitus' reference to a courtier named
Petronius
Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter" 16.18.2 . That the author is the same as this courtier is disputed. Many modern scholars accept the identification, pointing to a perceived similarity of character between the two and to possible references to affairs at the Neronian court. Other scholars consider this identification "beyond conclusive proof".
Genre
The ''Satyricon'' is considered one of the gems of Western literature, and, according to Branham, it is the earliest of its kind in Latin.Branham (1997 pp.xvi /ref> Petronius mixes together two antithetical genres: the cynic and
parodic
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
menippean satire
The genre of Menippean satire is a form of satire, usually in prose, that is characterized by attacking mental attitudes rather than specific individuals or entities. It has been broadly described as a mixture of allegory, picaresque narrative, and ...
romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
. The mixing of these two radically contrasting genres generates the sophisticated humor and ironic tone of ''Satyricon''.
The name “satyricon” implies that the work belongs to the type to which
Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...
, imitating the Greek
Menippus
Menippus of Gadara (; el, Μένιππος ὁ Γαδαρεύς ''Menippos ho Gadareus''; fl. 3rd century BC) was a Cynic satirist. The Menippean satire genre is named after him. His works, all of which are lost, were an important influence ...
, had given the character of a medley of prose and verse composition. But the string of fictitious narrative by which the medley is held together is something quite new in Roman literature. The author was happily inspired in his devices for amusing himself and thereby transmitted to modern times a text based on the ordinary experience of contemporary life; the precursor of such novels as ''
Gil Blas
''Gil Blas'' (french: L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane ) is a picaresque novel by Alain-René Lesage published between 1715 and 1735. It was highly popular, and was translated several times into English, most notably as The Adventures of G ...
'' by
Alain-René Lesage
Alain-René Lesage (; 6 May 166817 November 1747; older spelling Le Sage) was a French novelist and playwright. Lesage is best known for his comic novel '' The Devil upon Two Sticks'' (1707, ''Le Diable boiteux''), his comedy ''Turcaret'' (170 ...
and ''
The Adventures of Roderick Random
''The Adventures of Roderick Random'' is a picaresque novel by Tobias Smollett, first published in 1748. It is partially based on Smollett's experience as a naval-surgeon's mate in the Royal Navy, especially during the Battle of Cartagena de In ...
'' by
Tobias Smollett
Tobias George Smollett (baptised 19 March 1721 – 17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for picaresque novels such as ''The Adventures of Roderick Random'' (1748), ''The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle'' (1751) a ...
. It reminds the well-read protagonist of
Joris-Karl Huysmans
Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel ''À rebou ...
's ''
À rebours
''À rebours'' (; translated ''Against Nature'' or ''Against the Grain'') is an 1884 novel by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans. The narrative centers on a single character: Jean des Esseintes, an eccentric, reclusive, ailing aesthete. The l ...
'' of certain nineteenth-century French novels: "In its highly polished style, its astute observation, its solid structure, he could discern curious parallels and strange analogies with the handful of modern French novels he was able to tolerate."
Literary and cultural legacy
Apocryphal supplements
The incomplete form in which the ''Satyricon'' survives has tantalized many readers, and between 1692 and the present several writers have attempted to round the story out. In certain cases, following a well-known conceit of historical fiction, these invented supplements have been claimed to derive from newly discovered manuscripts, a claim that may appear all the more plausible since the real fragments actually came from two different medieval sources and were only brought together by 16th- and 17th-century editors. The claims have been exposed by modern scholarship, even 21st-century apocryphal supplements.
Historical contributions
Found only in the fragments of the Satyricon is our source of information about the language of the people who made up Rome's populace. The Satyricon provides description, conversation, and stories that have become invaluable evidence of colloquial Latin. In the realism of Trimalchio's dinner party, we are provided with informal table talk that abounds in vulgarisms and
solecisms
A solecism is a phrase that transgresses the rules of grammar. The term is often used in the context of linguistic prescription; it also occurs descriptively in the context of a lack of idiomaticness.
Etymology
The word originally was used by ...
which give us insight into the unknown Roman
proletariat
The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...
.
Chapter 41, the dinner with Trimalchio, depicts such a conversation after the overbearing host has left the room. A guest at the party, Dama, after calling for a cup of wine, begins first:
Modern literature
In the process of coming up with the title of ''
The Great Gatsby
''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts First-person narrative, first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious mil ...
'',
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...
had considered several titles for his book including "Trimalchio" and "Trimalchio in West Egg;" Fitzgerald characterizes Gatsby as Trimalchio in the novel, notably in the first paragraph of Chapter VII:
An early version of the novel, still titled "Trimalchio", was published by the
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
.
T. S. Eliot's seminal poem of cultural disintegration, ''
The Waste Land
''The Waste Land'' is a poem by T. S. Eliot, widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. Published in 1922, the 434-line poem first appeared in the United Kingdom in the Octob ...
'', is prefaced by a verbatim quotation out of Trimalchio's account of visiting the
Cumaean Sibyl
The Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples, Italy. The word ''sibyl'' comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word ''sibylla'', meaning prophetess. There were many sibyls ...
(Chapter 48), a supposedly immortal prophetess whose counsel was once sought on all matters of grave importance, but whose grotto by Neronian times had become just another site of local interest along with all the usual Mediterranean
tourist trap
A tourist trap is an establishment (or group of establishments) that has been created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money. Tourist traps will typically provide overpriced services, entertainment, food, souvenir ...
s:
Arrowsmith translates:
In Isaac Asimov's short story "
All the Troubles of the World
"All the Troubles of the World" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the April 1958 issue of ''Super-Science Fiction'', and was reprinted in the 1959 collection ''Nine Tomorrows''. It is ...
", Asimov's recurring character
Multivac
Multivac is the name of a fictional supercomputer appearing in over a dozen science fiction stories by American writer Isaac Asimov. Asimov's depiction of Multivac, a mainframe computer accessible by terminal, originally by specialists using mac ...
, a supercomputer entrusted with analyzing and finding solutions to the world's problems, is asked "Multivac, what do you yourself want more than anything else?" and, like the ''Satyricons Sibyl when faced with the same question, responds "I want to die."
A sentence written by Petronius in a satyrical sense, to represent one of the many gross absurdities told by Trimalchio, reveals the feeling present in some Latin literature; a feeling perfectly seized by T. S. Eliot.
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
's novel, ''
The Picture of Dorian Gray
''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is a philosophical fiction, philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine''.''Th ...
'', mentions "What to imperial Neronian Rome the author of the ''Satyricon'' once had been."
DBC Pierre
Peter Warren Finlay (born in 1961), also known as DBC Pierre, is an Australian author who wrote the novel '' Vernon God Little''.
Pierre was born in South Australia, and largely raised in Mexico. He has resided in the Republic of Ireland and ...
's novel ''
Lights Out in Wonderland
Peter Warren Finlay (born in 1961), also known as DBC Pierre, is an Australian author who wrote the novel '' Vernon God Little''.
Pierre was born in South Australia, and largely raised in Mexico. He has resided in the Republic of Ireland and ...
'' repeatedly references the ''Satyricon''.
Graphic arts
A series of 100 etchings illustrating the ''Satyricon'' was made by the Australian artist
Norman Lindsay
Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his genera ...
. These were included in several 20th century translations, including, eventually, one by the artist's son
Jack Lindsay
Jack Lindsay (20 October 1900 – 8 March 1990) was an Australian-born writer, who from 1926 lived in the United Kingdom, initially in Essex. He was born in Melbourne, but spent his formative years in Brisbane. He was the eldest son of Norman L ...
.
Film
In 1969 two film versions were made. ''
Fellini Satyricon
''Fellini Satyricon'', or simply ''Satyricon'', is a 1969 Italian fantasy drama film written and directed by Federico Fellini and loosely based on Petronius's work '' Satyricon'', written during the reign of Emperor Nero and set in Imperial R ...
'', directed by
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...
, was loosely based upon the book. The film is deliberately fragmented and
surreal
Surreal may refer to:
*Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art
* "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki
* ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze
*Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor
...
though the androgynous Giton (Max Born) gives the graphic picture of Petronius's character. Among the chief narrative changes Fellini makes to the ''Satyricon'' text is the addition of a hermaphroditic priestess, who does not exist in the Petronian version.
In Fellini's adaptation, the fact that Ascyltos abducts this hermaphrodite, who later dies a miserable death in a desert landscape, is posed as an ill-omened event, and leads to the death of Ascyltos later in the film (none of which is to be found in the Petronian version). Other additions Fellini makes in his filmic adaptation: the appearance of a minotaur in a labyrinth (who first tries to club Encolpius to death, and then attempts to kiss him), and the appearance of a nymphomaniac whose husband hires Ascyltos to enter her caravan and have sex with her.
The other movie, ''
Satyricon
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 manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petro ...
'', was directed by
Gian Luigi Polidoro
Gian Luigi Polidoro (4 February 1927 – 7 September 2000) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 16 films between 1956 and 1998. His 1963 film '' Il diavolo'' won the Golden Bear at the 13th Berlin International Film F ...
.
Music and theatre
The Norwegian
black metal
Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...
band
Satyricon
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 manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petro ...
is named after the book.
American composer James Nathaniel Holland adapted the story and wrote music for the ballet, ''The Satyricon''.
Paul Foster wrote a play (called ''Satyricon'') based on the book, directed by John Vaccaro at
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...
in 1972.
British director Martin Foreman wrote a play (titled ''The Satyricon'') based on the novel. It was staged in Edinburgh in October 2022 as a co-production between Arbery Theatre and the Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group. In Foreman's adaptation the presumed author of the book, Petronius, plays an editorializing role, commenting on structural aspects of the text, such as its fragmentary nature, as well as on philosophical themes it addresses, such as 1st-century AD Roman attitudes to slavery.
English translations
Over a span of more than three centuries the ''Satyricon'' has frequently been translated into English, often in limited editions. The translations are as follows. The online versions, like the originals on which they are based, often incorporate spurious supplements which are not part of the authentic ''Satyricon''.
* William Burnaby, 1694, London: Samuel Briscoe. Includes Nodot's spurious supplement Available online. ** Revised by Mr Wilson, 1708, London.
** Included in the edition of 1910, London, edited by Stephen Gaselee and illustrated by
Norman Lindsay
Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his genera ...
.
** Reprinted with an introduction by C. K. Scott Moncrieff, 1923, London.
** Revised by Gilbert Bagnani, 1964, New York: Heritage. Illustrated by Antonio Sotomayor.
* John Addison, 1736, London.
* Walter K. Kelly, 1854, in the volume ''Erotica: The elegies of Propertius, The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter, and The Kisses of Johannes Secundus''. London: Henry G. Bohn. Includes the supplements by Nodot and Marchena.
* Paris, 1902. Published by
Charles Carrington
Charles Carrington (1857–1921) was a leading British publisher of erotica in late-19th- and early-20th-century Europe. Born ''Paul Harry Ferdinando'' in Bethnal Green, England on 11 November 1867, he moved in 1895 from London to Paris where h ...
, and ascribed by the publisher (on a loose slip of paper inserted into each copy) to Sebastian Melmoth (a pseudonym used by
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
). Includes the Nodot supplements; these are not marked off.Boroughs, Rod, "Oscar Wilde's Translation of Petronius: The Story of a Literary Hoax", English Literature in Transition (ELT) 1880-1920, vol. 38, nr. 1 (1995) pages 9-49. The 1902 translation made free use of Addison's 1736 translation, but mistakenly attributes it to Joseph Addison, the better known author and statesman who died in 1719. The bibliography is disappointing in both range and accuracy. The underlying text is very bad and turns of phrase suggest that the translation was more likely from French renderings than directly from the original Latin. Despite the publisher's slip of paper ascribing it to Oscar Wilde, the style is not good enough and Carrington could not, when challenged, produce any of the manuscript. Gaselee, Stephen, "The Bibliography of Petronius", ''Transactions of the Bibliographical Society'', vol. 10 (1908) page 202.
** reprint "in the translation attributed to Oscar Wilde", 1927, Chicago: P. Covici; 1930, Panurge Press Available online as the translation of Alfred R. Allinson.
* Michael Heseltine, 1913, London: Heinemann; New York; Macmillan (
Loeb Classical Library
The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and L ...
).
** revised by E. H. Warmington, 1969, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
* William Stearns Davis, 1913, Boston: Allyn and Bacon (being an excerpt from "The Banquet of Trimalchio" in ''Readings in Ancient History'', Vol. available online with )
* W. C. Firebaugh (illustrated by
Norman Lindsay
Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his genera ...
), 1922, New York:
Horace Liveright
Horace Brisbin Liveright (pronounced "LIVE-right," anglicized by Horace's father from the German ''Liebrecht;'' 10 December 1884 – 24 September 1933) was an American publisher and stage producer. With Albert Boni, he founded the Modern Libr ...
. Includes the supplements by de Salas, Nodot and Marchena, separately marked Available online. ** Adapted by
Charles Whibley
Charles Whibley (9 December 1859 – 4 March 1930) was an English literary journalist and author. In literature and the arts, his views were progressive. He supported James Abbott McNeill Whistler (they had married sisters). He also recommended ...
, 1927, New York.
* J. M. Mitchell, 1923, London: Routledge; New York: Dutton.
*
Jack Lindsay
Jack Lindsay (20 October 1900 – 8 March 1990) was an Australian-born writer, who from 1926 lived in the United Kingdom, initially in Essex. He was born in Melbourne, but spent his formative years in Brisbane. He was the eldest son of Norman L ...
(with the illustrations by Norman Lindsay), 1927, London: Fanfrolico Press; 1944, New York: Willey; 1960, London: Elek.
* Alfred R. Allinson, 1930, New York: The Panurge Press. (This is the same translation published in 1902 with a false attribution to Oscar Wilde.)
* Paul Dinnage, 1953, London: Spearman & Calder.
*
William Arrowsmith
William Ayres Arrowsmith (April 13, 1924 – February 21, 1992) was an American classicist, academic, and translator.
Life
Born in Orange, New Jersey, the son of Walter Weed Arrowsmith and Dorothy (Ayres) Arrowsmith, William grew up in Wellesle ...
, 1959, The University of Michigan Press. Also 1960, New York: The New American Library/Mentor.
* Paul J. Gillette, 1965, Los Angeles: Holloway House.
* J. P. Sullivan, 1965 (revised 1969, 1977, 1986), Harmondsworth, England: Penguin. .
* R. Bracht Branham and Daniel Kinney, 1996, London, New York: Dent. . Also 1997, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. (paperback).
* P. G. Walsh, 1997, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. and .
* Sarah Ruden, 2000, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. (hardcover) and (paperback).
*
Frederic Raphael
Frederic Michael Raphael (born 14 August 1931) is an American-British BAFTA and Academy Award winning screenwriter, biographer, nonfiction writer, novelist and journalist.
Early life
Raphael was born in Chicago, to an American Jewish mother f ...
(Illustrated by Neil Packer), 2003, London:
The Folio Society
The Folio Society is a London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly Private company limited by shares, privately owned, it operates as an employee ownership trust since 2021.
It produces illustrate ...
* Andrew Brown, 2009, Richmond, Surrey: Oneworld Classics Ltd. .
Français
* Laurent Tailhade, 1922, Paris: Éditions de la Sirèn Gutenberg
See also
*
Supplements to the Satyricon
Petronius's ''Satyricon'', the only extant realistic Classical Latin novel (probably written c. AD 60), survives in a very fragmentary form. Many readers have wondered how the story would begin and end.
Between 1629 and the present several author ...
*
Trimalchio
Trimalchio is a character in the 1st-century AD Roman work of fiction ''Satyricon'' by Petronius. He features as the ostentatious, nouveau-riche host in the section titled the "Cēna Trīmalchiōnis" (The Banquet of Trimalchio, often translated as ...
References
Further reading
* Branham, R Bracht and Kinney, Daniel (1997) ''Introduction'' to
Petronius
Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter" Satyrica' pp.xiii-xxvi
*
*
*Moore, Steven. ''The Novel, an Alternative History: Beginnings to 1600''. Continuum, 2010.
*Bodel, John. 1999. “The Cena Trimalchionis.” ''Latin Fiction: The Latin Novel in Context.'' Edited by Heinz Hofmann. London; New York: Routledge.
* Boyce, B. 1991. ''The Language of the Freedmen in Petronius' Cena Trimalchionis.'' Leiden: Brill.
* Connors, C. 1998. ''Petronius the Poet: Verse and Literary Tradition in the Satyricon.'' New York: Cambridge University Press.
* George, P. 1974. "Petronius and Lucan De Bello Civili." ''The Classical Quarterly'' 24.1: 119–133.
* Goddard, Justin. 1994. "The Tyrant at the Table." ''Reflections of Nero: Culture, History, and Representation.'' Edited by Jaś Elsner & Jamie Masters. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
* Habermehl, Peter, Petronius, Satyrica 79–141. Ein philologisch–literarischer Kommentar. Band I: Satyrica 79–110. Berlin: de Gruyter. 2006.
* Habermehl, Peter, Petronius, Satyrica 79–141. Ein philologisch–literarischer Kommentar. Band II: Satyrica 111–118. Berlin: de Gruyter. 2020.
* Habermehl, Peter, Petronius, Satyrica 79–141. Ein philologisch–literarischer Kommentar. Band III: Bellum civile (Sat. 119–124). Berlin: de Gruyter. 2021.
* Highet, G. 1941. "Petronius the Moralist." ''Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association'' 72: 176–194.
* Holmes, Daniel. 2008. "Practicing Death in Petronius' Cena Trimalchionis and Plato's Phaedo." ''The Classical Journal'' 104.1: 43–57.
* Panayotakis, C.1995. ''Theatrum Arbitri. Theatrical Elements in Satyrica of Petronius.'' Leiden: Brill.
* Plaza, M. 2000. ''Laughter and Derision in Petronius’ Satyrica.'' Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.
* Ferreira, P., Leão, D. and C. Teixeira. 2008. ''The Satyricon of Petronius: Genre, Wandering and Style.'' Coimbra: Centro de Estudos Clássicos e Humanísticos da Universidade de Coimbra.
* Ragno, T. 2009. ''Il teatro nel racconto. Studi sulla fabula scenica della matrona di Efeso.'' Bari: Palomar.
* Rimell, V. 2002. ''Petronius and the Anatomy of Fiction.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Sandy, Gerald. 1970. "Petronius and the Tradition of the Interpolated Narrative." ''Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association'' 101: 463–476.
* Schmeling, G. 2011. ''A Commentary on the Satyrica of Petronius.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Schmeling, G. and J. H. Stuckey. 1977. ''A Bibliography of Petronius.'' Lugduni Batavorum: Brill.
* Setaioli. A. 2011. ''Arbitri Nugae: Petronius' Short Poems in the Satyrica.'' Studien zur klassischen Philologie 165. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
* Slater, N. 1990. ''Reading Petronius.'' Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press.
* Zeitlin, F. 1971. "Petronius as Paradox: Anarchy and Artistic Integrity." ''Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association'' 102: 631–684.