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Petronius: Satyricon; Seneca: Apocolocyntosis (Loeb Classical Library No. 15)

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These two puzzling pieces of literature fall into the playful genre of Mennepian satire, a unique method which blends prose, verse, and dialogue. In this genre, modes of interpretation are various and always open-ended; and it is usually the author's purpose to keep it as such. The first text in this volume is Petronius' Satyricon, a Latin novel which closely resembles the later work of Apuleius, The Golden Ass. The stage for the tales in the Satyricon are set in the rural south of Italy. The stories in the Satyricon are bawdy and full of everything that a hedonist of the Neronian period would agree upon. It would be somewhat unnecessary to lay out the plot line since the narrative is often times difficult to follow and the surviving text is fragmentary. Petronius' merit as an author and poet, for the most part, lies in the effect his writings had on the generations to follow. The second work in this volume is the great Seneca's Apocolocyntosis or Pumpkification of the Divine Claudius. This short work is a biting satire--which is quite humorous--aimed at the shamefully deified emperor Claudius. Essentially, it is a work which purports to "undiefy" the insane emperor and send him to Hades where he belongs. Overall, these two works are moderately enjoyable. For the poet or satirist there is a wealth of material to draw upon, for people like Erasmus and Rabelais found much to digest in them.