The Satyricon

Rating:
Summary: Just because it's ancient doesn't mean it's any good
Review: Having run across this singular work for the first time, I imagined that it would be as funny as the jacket described and less raunchy than I expected. I was completely wrong. In fairness to the text, it is woefully incomplete, consisting mainly of fragments from some of its later volumes. Some call this the first novel, and it must have been incredibly lengthy in its original state. What we have today is the story of a unwholesome youth who obsesses in his love for his homosexual lover Giton but engages in general ribaldry with all sorts of men (and sometimes even women). At some point in the tale, he is cursed with impotence (although the story never describes conditions of this type in any sort of subdued language) and bewails his constant state of bad luck and persecution while seeking a cure for his condition. Because even this existing text is fragmented, the story is sometimes hard to follow due to gaping holes in the narrative. The largest whole section describes a banquet held by a rich former slave; the incredible ostentatiousness of the proceedings is matched only by its overtly perverse sexual nature. This text eventually overwhelmed my desire to interpret it as a product of its age. While the jokes are not funny and the satire is too obscure for my true understanding and doubtful appreciation, the constant dirty jokes and sexual references quite sabotaged the story for me.

I was troubled by the translator's numerous admissions at having sacrificed the original Latin for today's English. While I understand his desire to make the work readable and understandable to a modern audience, I would much prefer to have a more literal translation--if for no other reason than to know whether the juvenile references contained herein date back to Polonius or to the modern translator. While Rome itself can certainly not be judged by one satirical work, this book does succeed in casting a shadow of immorality on the ancient Romans. I really cannot recommend this book. Even those seeking prurient pleasures and nothing else will be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A Burlesque Satire On Decadence And Pleasure
Review: Petronius' Satyricon is a unique satire on decadence and pleasure. Although the story takes place during Nero's reign, one begins to see that many of the scenes have relevance to today's society and its own debaucheries.

The story follows the adventures of Aschyltus and Encolpio; two rhetoricians who are on an infinite quest for pleasure. Their frienship is challenged by their mutual attraction to Giton, a scoundrelous slave-boy who seems to have more wits and vices than all of the other characters. This triad of debauches is also joined by Emolpus, a trickster and pseudo-intellectual who's always scheming on how he can use his sophistry to hit the jack pot. The most memorable scene in the fragmentary work is Trimalchio's dinner; this chapter surprisingly brings the ancient past closer to modern times in its recital of the characters' casual conversations on money, opportunism, business, and, of course, pleasure.

Although some readers have complained that Arrowsmith's translation isn't faithful to some of the Latin terms, the truth is (as is the case with any other foreign works) that some of the words don't have a counterpart in the English language (or any other modern language.) It is therefore the duty of the translator to use his poetic licence in conjuring the best phrase or sentence that can convey the theme or jist of the statement in question. I personally found this translation the most faithful in trying to convey the type of low-brow humor and puns that Petronius seems to have intended in his work. I strongly recommend this translation above other for that reason.

Rating:
Summary: Do we really understand it?
Review: We're talking of a fragmentary text of a "novel" that's been written almost 2000 years ago. Are we sure we understand it correctly? We know the vulgarity and the flashy mawkishness of Trimalchio... what if for the sensibility of the era it was somewhat amended by religious piety? Is Giton a mere toyboy or a cynical example of opportunistic selfishness? Is Encolpion an image of just punishment for luxury or a hopeless lover? And Eumolpus... obnoxius bad poet, reckless trickster,heredity chaser(a common theme, compare Horatius and Lucian) what of him? Maybe,at the end, Petronius identified whit him, who lived every day of its life as if it's been the last.