56 pages • 1 hour read
Petronius, Transl. Piero Chiara, Transl. P.G. WalshThe Satyricon
Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult | Published in 60A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context
The author of The Satyricon is still not conclusively known, but most scholars believe that the text was written by a man named Gaius Petronius Arbiter, who lived from 27 to 66 CE. Assuming this, the biography of Petronius can provide some additional insights into the text. Several important Roman writers and historians such as Tacitus, Plutarch, and Pliny the Elder refer to Petronius, providing some hints about his life. Petronius seems to have had a successful political career and eventually ended up living as a wealthy courtier and personal advisor to the Emperor Nero (who reigned from 54 to 68 CE). This status as a man who lived amongst the elite and saw their lavish lifestyles firsthand could explain why Petronius satirizes obsessions with wealth and luxury in his novel.
Importantly, Petronius also seems to have been interested in questions of taste and elegance; in a number of sources, he is referred to as holding a court position as the elegantiae arbiter, which can be translated as the “judge of elegance” or the “judge of good taste.” This biographical detail is revealing because throughout his novel, Petronius usually mocks characters who are greedy and tacky, not simply individuals who possess wealth. Trimalchio is the textbook example of this type of character; rather than coming from old money and an established aristocratic lineage, he is a former slave. Petronius implies that he may have acquired money, but he will never be able to buy taste. Petronius also criticizes social climbers and the nouveau riche in his portrayal of the town of Croton.
Despite his high status, Petronius experienced a reversal of fortunes. He was accused of conspiring against Emperor Nero (likely by another courtier who was jealous of his status and influence) and arrested. Knowing that he faced the almost certain prospect of execution, Petronius decided to end his life on his own terms. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, Petronius opened his veins, but then had his wounds bandaged up so that he could enjoy time with his friends and put his affairs in order. Later, he had the wounds reopened and held a final banquet, reveling in good food and drink while slowly bleeding to death, and finally dying in his bed later that night. This dark and yet stylized conclusion to his life mirrors some aspects of the banquet scene featured in The Satyricon, where themes of death are also omnipresent.
Literary Context
The Satyricon is an example of Menippean satire. The term Menippean satire originated during the Renaissance and is named after the 3rd century BCE Greek writer Menippus, who notably wrote in a mixture of prose and verse. Menippean satire typically features a mixture of prose, verse, styles, and allusions. It often has a fragmentary and disjointed structure and a focus on satirizing “types” rather than specific individuals. (For example, the character of Trimalchio satirizes the broad category of vulgar freedmen, but not any one single freedman). Petronius makes use of the typical Menippean style of mixing prose and verse. It is worth noting that Encolpius generally speaks in prose and verse is usually inserted as a way of poking fun at other characters or creating juxtaposition with more highbrow topics that would traditionally be described in verse.
Menippean satire is often juxtaposed against two other main categories of satire: Horatian and Juvenalian. The former is usually light, playful, and intended to poke fun, whereas the latter is dark, angry, and often attempting to incite an outcry over injustice and call attention to a need for social change. Since it is distinguished by formal features, Menippean satire can include both light, comic elements, and dark, angry ones. The Satyricon likewise has playful and funny moments, but also ones that offer a substantial critique of cultural decline and decadence in Roman society. Figures such as Trimalchio satirize nouveau riche individuals who achieve wealth without refinement or good taste, while pedantic poets, lecherous women, and conniving servants are also the target of jokes that would have been familiar to an ancient Roman audience.
