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.
Chapters 4-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary: “An Episode in the Market”
Encolpius and Ascyltus go to the market together; there is no mention of how they resolved the violent quarrel at the end of the last chapter. They mention having brought along a stolen cloak in hopes of selling it (this seems to refer to an earlier incident in the lost portion of the text, where readers would have learned about when and how Encolpius and Ascyltus stole the cloak). A peasant comes over to look at the cloak and the two men recognize him. The peasant has a shirt that formerly belonged to them, and it contains golden coins which they had hidden by sewing them into the hem of the shirt.
Encolpius and Ascyltus discuss how best to get the shirt back but end up in a dispute when the peasant and his wife claim that the cloak was stolen from them. When the local authorities intervene and try to make the dispute in to a court case, Encolpius and Ascyltus reclaim the shirt, since it appears to be dirty, torn, and worthless. They end up very pleased to be reunited with their hidden money, and sarcastically mock the townspeople by reflecting that “we began to laugh at the sharp conduct of the dealers and our vexatious accusers alike, because by being so terribly clever they had restored our money to us” (11).
Chapter 5 Summary: “Enter Quartilla, the Priapic Priestess”
Back at the lodgings, Giton has made dinner, and after everyone finishes eating, there is a loud knock at the door. A woman enters and explains that she is the maid of Quartilla. Quartilla is a priestess, and her maid explains that the men interrupted Quartilla while she was performing a ritual. The maid reassures them that Quartilla is not angry but is curious about them: “she wonders what god has led such elegant young men into her neighborhood” (12).
A short time later, Quartilla arrives, accompanied by a young girl. Quartilla weeps and explains that she has fallen ill. In a dream, a vision showed that she had to seek out these young men and obtain a cure from them. Before she reveals what is required for this cure, Quartilla also tells them that she is very worried they will expose the secret rituals they accidentally observed. Encolpius reassures her that they will not reveal any secrets, and that they are happy to do anything she needs to cure her fever. Quartilla and the maid and the young girl all begin to laugh, which makes Encolpius nervous. Quartilla mentions that she has secured the lodgings for the rest of the day so that she can have her cure without interruption. Encolpius becomes more and more alarmed, but comforts himself that, if the women attack them, the men are stronger and will be able to fight back.
The narrative becomes more fragmentary, but sexual activity begins to take place between the various characters. The men are fed aphrodisiacs and are joined by a “catamite” (a young boy typically involved in a sexual relationship with an older man), who also has sex with them.
The action shifts to Quartilla’s home (how they got there is not clear). Encolpius, Ascyltus, and Giton are exhausted from sexual activity. They are treated to massages and a lavish feast, but when they begin to doze off after dinner, Quartilla announces that they must stay up all night to “honor Priapus” (i.e. keep participating in the orgy).
However, everyone is so exhausted that they fall asleep, and only awaken when some Syrian thieves try to steal some valuables. The sound awakens the group, and the feasting, partying, and sex resumes. A catamite (it is not clear whether this is the same character who participated when the orgy began at the lodgings) enters and recites some poetry, and then begins to have sex with Encolpius. Encolpius complains to Quartilla, and points out that Ascyltus is not participating, so she directs the catamite over to him. Quartilla also takes an interest in Giton and begins to fondle him, but the maid suggests that Giton have sex with the young girl, who is now identified as being around seven years old.
Encolpius protests that the girl is too young, and not yet ready “to undertake the woman’s role” (18), but Quartilla explains that she herself began having sex when she was very young and doesn’t see any harm in it. They stage a mock wedding and shut Giton and the young girl up in bed together. Then Quartilla and Encolpius watch them having sex while also kissing and eventually having sex with one another.
Chapters 4-5 Analysis
The scene at the market demonstrates the confusing and fragmentary reading experience that comes along with an incomplete work. The previous chapter ended with Ascyltus and Encolpius in a physical fight, but now they seem to be on friendly terms again. It’s also not clear what has previously happened with the stolen cloak, but the episode is helpful in establishing that Ascyltus and Encolpius have been living somewhat lawlessly, and foreshadowing how consequences of previous misdeeds will also come back to haunt them in Encolpius’s encounter with Lichas and Tryphaena. The episode in the market gives Petronius an opportunity to critique greed in Roman society, and how it has led to a breakdown in law and order. When Ascyltus explains why he wants to buy the shirt rather than try to enforce a legal claim, Petronius embeds a short section of poetry that argues: “what point have laws, where Mammon solely reigns?” (10) “Mammon” refers to wealth or greed, and this personification of an attribute as a ruler or dictator shows that Petronius believes that greed, not law and order, is what controls Roman society. This comment ends up being proven correct by later events wherein “the security men on the evening shift were hoping to make money out of the cloak” (11). The prevalence of greed in Roman society impacts the functioning of the law, leading to corruption and decline that parallels the decline in art and learning.
The text’s preoccupation with excess and greed extends beyond greed for money, manifesting also as excess in terms of sexuality, and later, gluttony. The episode with Quartilla highlights Petronius’s comical depiction of bawdy and chaotic scenes. He also uses the episode to satirize the idea of religion. At first, Encolpius is naively earnest about maintaining secrecy around any sacred rituals and assures Quartilla that “we would carry through the design of divine Providence even if it put us in danger” (13). Since he doesn’t realize what he is agreeing to, the comment becomes an ironic trap binding him to excessive sexual endeavors. Encolpius doesn’t catch on to the joke that Quartilla slyly hints at: that the “cure” for her fever is sexual activity with the handsome young men. The personification of sexual desire as “fever” or a “burning” is cliché enough that Encolpius could have seen through it, but instead he and his companions “stared blankly now at each other, and now at the women” (14).
Consent is marginal at the beginning of the encounter. It vanishes entirely as Encolpius and the other men become exhausted and overwhelmed after days of ongoing sexual activity. Encolpius describes how he “could not restrain tears any longer, for I was reduced to extreme distress” (17). The scene is intended to parody sexual excess and overindulgence to the extreme that what was once pleasurable becomes grotesque; rather than unconstrained desire, it is tears that Encolpius finds himself unable to control.
An even darker element emerges at the end of the chapter, when Quartilla decides that she wants to watch Giton have sex with her child servant. Encolpius is initially shocked and outraged on behalf of both Giton and the girl, but quickly puts aside his scruples, and ends up engaging in voyeurism and becoming aroused as he watches alongside Quartilla, with “our faces as we eyed the scene […] close together” (18). This vignette reflects Encolpius’s role in the novel as someone who sometimes calls out the morality of what he witnesses around him, but often ends up in the more passive role of simply viewing it and even being corrupted or seduced by it. This scene also reflects a morally bankrupt world in which attempts to assert what is right are quickly subsumed in the context of other people pursuing their own gratification.
