Petronius' Satyricon

Question 1

who are the main characters in Petronius’ Satyricon?

Answer 1

• Encolpius (narrator, ex-gladiator/orater, impotent after somehow offending Priapus)
• Ascyltus (travelling companion, ex-lover & rival of Encolpius)
• Giton (Encolpius’ servent/boy-toy)
• Quartilla (brothel madame & devotee of Priapus)
• Trimalchio (wealthy freedman)
• Eumolpus (aged poet)

Priapus = minor fertility god

Question 2

what are the main plot points of the Satyricon?

Answer 2

• Book 14: Puteolli (adventures of Encolpius & Ascyltus, encounter in Quartilla’s brothel, Trimalchio’s feast)
• Book 15: Trimalchio’s dinner episode (Encolpius, Ascyltus, & Giton at banquet, flaunts riches, fakes his own funeral)
• Book 16: Journey to Croton (escape from Trimalchio’s house after fire breaks out, Encolpius encounters Circe but is struck w/ impotence)

not Homer’s Circe

Question 3

what is the literary context of the Satyricon?

Answer 3

• Satyricon Libri = “book of satyric things” (collection of things that are satyr-like, closely associated w/ drinking & sex, both satyric & satiric [play on words?])
• written during the Second Sophistic (68-230 BCE): Roman authors writing in Greek
• fragmentary w/ gaps & unclear order (24 books long?)

conspiracy = failed attempt to assassinate Nero & replace him w/ Gaius Calpurnius Piso

Question 4

what is the historical context of the Satyricon?

Answer 4

• Nero (around 15) comes to power in 1st c. CE & is enthusiastic about performance arts (interpreted as corruption of imperial character)
• failed conspiracy of Senator Calpurnius Piso resulted in deaths of Seneca (Nero’s tutor), Lucian (nephew), & Petronius
• Petronius wrote down Nero’s sexual behavuours & sent them to him (sealed w/ signet ring so it couldn’t be rewritten)
• then committed suicide by cutting his veins
• Seneca also killed himself by cutting wrists, taking poison, & entering steaming water (first 2 methods too slow)

Question 5

what main themes of the course are reflected in the Satyricon?

Answer 5

• Milesian Tale
• epic? (hero travelling across land in search of something)
• saturae (Lucilius vs. Menippus)

primarily Menippean w/ some Lucilian influence