The Satyricon [Hardcover]

Petronius (Author), P. G. Walsh (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 1996

The Satyricon is the most celebrated prose work to have survived from the ancient world. It can be described as the first realistic novel, the father of the picaresque genre. It recounts the sleazy progress of a pair of literate scholars as they wander through the cities of the southern Mediterranean in the age of Nero, encountering en route type-figures whom the author wishes to satirize--a professor, a libidinous priestess, a vulgar freedman turned millionaire, a manic poet, a superstitious sea-captain, and a femme fatale. P.G. Walsh captures the spirit of the original in this new and lively translation; his introduction and detailed notes provide the serious student with a comprehensive guide to the meanings and intentions of the story.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`elegant blank verse' Times Literary Supplement

`a carefulversion in English that hugs the Latin more closely...attractively produced.' London Review of Books

`a careful version in English that hugs the Latin more closely...attractively produced.' London Review of Books

`Classical literature can be entertaining, and this new edition is admirably served by a translation which brings the ancient Romans into the late 20th century.' The Daily Telegraph

`Competent translations ... readable, accurate and faithful to Petronius ... Walsh is thorough, trying to lead you to most of the recent scholarly literature on Petronius and the ancient novel.' New England Classical Journal

`Walsh has rendered Petronius's racy fragmentary novel in sprightly and readable English and appended a generally helpful set of endnotes.' CHOICE

`In a concentrated introduction of some thirty pages W. includes the main aspects of Petronian studies, combining literary flair with wide erudition and common sense...W.'s translation has a forceful directness that grips the reader immediately...This is a splendid book which will certainly give much pleasure. W. provides an admirable guide to the understanding and enjoyment of Petronius.' The Classical Review

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Latin

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Clarendon Press / Oxford; 1st edition (July 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198150121
• ISBN-13: 978-0198150121
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,627,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for the squeamish, but very amusing, August 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Satyricon (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

This is all that remains of what was apparently a much longer work - unless Petronius' allusions to lost episodes of the text are merely for effect, which they might be. The best known of the surviving sections is "Trimalchio's Dinner-party", which is devoted to a description of a vulgar and opinionated self-made man with much more money than sense or learning. The satire is razor-sharp. The book revolves around the misadventures of Encolpius (who is impotent), his lover Ascyltus, and Giton, for whose sexual favours the two of them quarrel bitterly. No account of the book would be quite complete with mentioning that little detail; so let the buyer beware. After Encolpius and Ascyltus split up, Encolpius and Giton fall in with Eumolpus, who is a thorough con man and generally a complete scoundrel. And of the same tastes as the others. Petronius drops his characters in one compromising situation after another - and leaves them to get themselves out.

Warmly recommended for the social comedy. And not pornographic.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The decadence of Nero's Rome, June 28, 2003

By 

gac1003 "gac1003" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Satyricon (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Follow the bawdy adventures of Encolpius through the
decadence of Nero's Rome as he tries to maintain the
love of his beautiful young male slave Giton. They
must contend with an evil roommate, Ascyltus -- also
vying for the attentions of Giton -- an orgy from the
Priestess of Priapus, a shipwreck, and a severe case
of impotence.

This satire of Roman life during the time of Nero
unabashedly shows the love (and sex) between
Encolpius and Giton. Not to mention the fact that
others -- both men and women -- also are attracted to
the beauty of young Giton and sometimes have their way
with him. It's quite humorous, sometimes a little
long in the speeches (like many Greek or Roman works
of the time) and even manages to throw in some poetry.

I was actually surprised at this openness to talk
about homosexuality in the First Century A.D. I would
have thought this to be a taboo suject at the time.
After some reasearch, I discovered that Petronius
actually served under Nero as his "arbiter elegantiae"
-- which means that he advised Nero on luxury and
extravagance. He was what would be considered today a
"partier:" sleeping during the day and staying up
until all hours with both young men and women, as did
Nero. So what Petronius writes about was actually
happening -- all the extravagant dinners, the orgies,
the openness of sexuality.

I highly recommend this!

(Also, as a note on the book. It is fragmentary. The
scholars have been unable to find a complete text of
"The Satyricon" so in reading it, you need to give a
little leeway in what happens.)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Early 'Adult' Reading, June 26, 2008

By 

B. Morse (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Satyricon (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

The Satryicon of Petronius, while not the first classical 'novel' I've read, is certainly a bit of a surprise in its frank depiction of sexuality in Ancient Rome. While not on par with modern day 'adult' works, it certainly was eye opening to see that such an early text, one that has survived to present day and is hailed as a classic work of literature, went as far as it did.

While fragmented and very random, as only a portion of what is believed to be a much larger text has survived, the story opens with what appears to be a breakup and disagreement between two lovers, Ascyltus and Encolpius, when it is determined that they both lust after the same young house-boy, Giton. However, the two decide to leave the appearance that they are still a pair for a time, and venture off to a dinner party hosted by the wealthy and rather boastful Trimalchio, where they are treated to course after course of delightful, and not so delightful, foods, as well as orations of poetry, and dinner entertainment in the form of certain deceptions carried out on the guests.

Following this evening of wine, food, and debauchery, one of the pair, Ascyltus, disappears from the tale. However, Encolpius and Giton are then joined by the learned poet Eumolpus, who also harbors a deep lust for the handsome young Giton.

The three board a ship (another great gap in the narrative as the reason for this voyage has no explanation at all) where they are met with less than fortunate circumstances before finally disembarking the ship in a manner which none of them foresaw.

Concluding with tales of amorous woe on the part of Encolpius, the story ends very abruptly, and definitely without the satisfaction of having read a complete work.

As this is believed to be only a surviving fragment of the original text, readers can only guess at what fills in the gaps in the story, and the leaps in location that occur. While this tends to be a bit frustrating, when trying to read the Satyricon as a 'novel'; if the work is simply taken as a series of vignettes, it does not fail to entertain.

An interesting look at the rather 'bawdy' side of life in Nero's Rome.