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42nd out of 345 books
—
440 voters
The Satyricon
by
Petronius,
P.G. Walsh
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 wi...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
August 19th 1999
by Oxford University Press, USA
(first published 60)
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I remember the sense I had as a child that sexual perversity had been invented in the 1960's. Before that, everyone did it purely for procreation, and only to people they were married to.
This was often the face put forward in the fifties, the dark ages of sex as culture. It's no wonder that this is where we get stories about couples having no idea what they are actually supposed to do on their wedding nights.
The depression and the war resulted in the centralization of cultural power. Nationalism...more
This was often the face put forward in the fifties, the dark ages of sex as culture. It's no wonder that this is where we get stories about couples having no idea what they are actually supposed to do on their wedding nights.
The depression and the war resulted in the centralization of cultural power. Nationalism...more
Today, the Satyricon is most famous for two things:
1. For being (arguably) the first novel, and
2. For being a very, very dirty little book.
Unfortunately, only 141 chapters of a much longer work have survived. But those chapters are extremely compelling. Written during the reign of Nero in the 1st century, the Satyricon is quite simply unlike anything before it. Perhaps the best way to think about this book is to look at it like a little prose Odyssey. Except instead of the king of Ithaca, our he...more
1. For being (arguably) the first novel, and
2. For being a very, very dirty little book.
Unfortunately, only 141 chapters of a much longer work have survived. But those chapters are extremely compelling. Written during the reign of Nero in the 1st century, the Satyricon is quite simply unlike anything before it. Perhaps the best way to think about this book is to look at it like a little prose Odyssey. Except instead of the king of Ithaca, our he...more
Oct 28, 2011
Evan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
deliciously-nasty,
sexuality,
history-euro,
gay-interest,
2011-reads,
italia,
toga-time-tomes,
age-gap
The ancient pagans, as we all know, loved big dicks and anything that symbolized them, such as Priapus, the well-endowed fertility god.
And so, many centuries later, it might have come as a shock to proper Christian bakers and the families that enjoyed their kneaded hot-cross buns at table if someone had told them that they were basically biting into a nice, warm, firm big dick.
Let me try to explain. You see, over time the Christians managed to wheedle, cajole, beat, burn or use whatever means ne...more
And so, many centuries later, it might have come as a shock to proper Christian bakers and the families that enjoyed their kneaded hot-cross buns at table if someone had told them that they were basically biting into a nice, warm, firm big dick.
Let me try to explain. You see, over time the Christians managed to wheedle, cajole, beat, burn or use whatever means ne...more
7 likes · like · see review
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The Satyricon by Petronius
Final Verdict: 3.75 out of 4.0
YTD: 58
Plot/Story:
4 – Plot/Story is interesting/believable and impactful.
Okay, this is not your grandfather’s classical Roman literature, unless your grandfather was a horny old homosexual (well, perhaps bisexual or pansexual), with a particular penchant for teenage boys and/or eunuchs. That being said, Petronius’s satirical version of classical Roman life is a breath of hilariously fresh air! The work was written in the 1st C A.D., and it...more
Final Verdict: 3.75 out of 4.0
YTD: 58
Plot/Story:
4 – Plot/Story is interesting/believable and impactful.
Okay, this is not your grandfather’s classical Roman literature, unless your grandfather was a horny old homosexual (well, perhaps bisexual or pansexual), with a particular penchant for teenage boys and/or eunuchs. That being said, Petronius’s satirical version of classical Roman life is a breath of hilariously fresh air! The work was written in the 1st C A.D., and it...more
1 like · like · see review
Petronius was a Roman writer. Yep, actually at the time. He was a friend of Nero’s, hanging out in his set. I think Nero may have had him killed in the end, when he (Nero) was going on his standard paranoid-autocrat’s-rampage of killing everyone off.
If you read this book you will get an idea of why conservative Romans didn’t like Nero. This story is debauched, hedonistic and so openly gay, in both senses of the word.
What I especially like about this is – apart from it being such a rollick – is t...more
If you read this book you will get an idea of why conservative Romans didn’t like Nero. This story is debauched, hedonistic and so openly gay, in both senses of the word.
What I especially like about this is – apart from it being such a rollick – is t...more
Remarkable in its modernity, The Satyricon brilliantly foreshadows the later conception of the "novel" as we know it. Lewd, lascivious, and hilarious, even as a fragment it is worth reading. Throw all your preconceptions about Classical lit out the window because this has very few of them: only seldom (mainly in the versified interludes) does the author resort to the verbose allusions and invocations of gods that have alienated me in the past. Rarely does Petronius rely on this (unsurprisingly)...more
An interesting little literary footnote of classical literature, probably more entertaining to Roman history and literature scholars than the casual reader. Still, Encolpius and his serving boy Giton make for interesting heroes, particularly as early homosexual leads. There are enough fragments left to construct a reasonable plot line but not much in the way of character arcs, which results in the principals eventually becoming somewhat grating as they drift from one misadventure to another. Mor...more
A novel written by the first century Roman Petronius that follows the bawdy adventures of Encolpius and his boyfriend Giton as they make their way through Italy. The work is often fragmentary and is full of allusions that only students of the ancient world will be able to recognize. Its style is no doubt very strange to the modern reader, and much is lost in translation. There are a few good stories, though, which are best if read in Latin, and there are lots of interesting things to be learned...more
Many know this book through Fellini's masterpiece, yet the original is so much richer. Combining salaciousness with a deep symbology, this work speaks to our time with an immediacy that titillates, engages and entertains. This book would shock many of our jaded teenagers who think everything before 1990 is just 'boring'. Boring s not what this book is. Indeed, celebrity chef Hestor Blumenthal resurrected the ejaculating pudding from this work. If you love salaciousness and titillation The Satyri...more
Contrary to what one might think at first, the Satyricon is not really a satire of anything; rather, it seems to be simply a series of goofy, comic scenes meant to either mildly amuse, or, at best, to raise the eyebrow of the reader. Much of the plot is an incoherent mess, but we may be fairly certain that it is something not unlike "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" (I have never seen this movie so I might be wrong). Petronius noticeably does not write any moral into his buffoonery - it is si...more
My husband bought me this as one of my Christmas presents. (And we subsequently managed to get it picked for this month's bibliogoth book - Convenient!) He thought I'd like it as it was a Roman On the Road. And I have to say I enjoyed it very much. I didn't think it was quite On the Road, as these people clearly had far more Money than Sal, but then they also suffered far worse punishments!!! In some ways I loved it for the same reasons I enjoy Torchwood, being that everyone was without matter o...more
Jun 07, 2010
Rachel
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommended to Rachel by:
School - Jed Wyrick
Shelves:
classic,
latin,
read-2004,
read-in-london,
read-for-class,
rome,
male-author,
hero,
male-author-hero
I had to read this book for class. I loved the class, I hated the book--as did everyone else in the class. We hated reading the book so much that we couldn't even give the movie a fair shot.
The book is hard to read for multiple reasons. I can't talk about the quality of the writing, since that would depend on which translation one is reading, but no matter who did the translation, some things can't be fixed. First of all, this novel is made up of only the surviving parts of the original story. T...more
The book is hard to read for multiple reasons. I can't talk about the quality of the writing, since that would depend on which translation one is reading, but no matter who did the translation, some things can't be fixed. First of all, this novel is made up of only the surviving parts of the original story. T...more
My interest was initially piqued some time ago by a viewing of Fellini's version of the story in a dingy college room last year. And it's interesting enough in its way. The culture of ancient Rome is so different as to seem surrealist at times. Unlike the Canterbury Tales or other documents from the root of Western civilization, I feel no analogy here. It's entertaining at times, but without a heavy steeping in the Greek and Roman classics, I mostly felt as if I just didn't get it.
I read this book years ago but decided to re-read it as I thought it would be interesting to get a less elevated impression of Roman life as most of what I have read deals with Emperors and Senators. The Satyricon is interesting as an early example of the novel and as a revelatory portrayal of how normal homosexuality was in the ancient world, but I don't think it has much inherent literary value. It is an interesting curio and nothing more.
Feb 19, 2008
Phil
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Roman History Fans
This is one I picked off of my father's bookshelves when it was referred to in another book. My father had thousands of books and I knew where they all were.
Anywho, this is the tale of two young 'students' in the stews of Rome (Aeshyltus and Encolpius) and their picaresque adventures, generally accompanied by their catamite slave Gitone (whom Gibbon describes as a 'hobbledehoy'). This is a fragment of a much larger work written by Petronius, the mad emperor Nero's 'Arbiter Of Taste'(Petronius wa...more
Anywho, this is the tale of two young 'students' in the stews of Rome (Aeshyltus and Encolpius) and their picaresque adventures, generally accompanied by their catamite slave Gitone (whom Gibbon describes as a 'hobbledehoy'). This is a fragment of a much larger work written by Petronius, the mad emperor Nero's 'Arbiter Of Taste'(Petronius wa...more
This is possibly the first novel, beating out Murasaki by 700 years, but it's hard to say as much of the text was lost and/or edited out by anti-sex monks during the middle ages. Two wealthy young men, boyfriends of sorts, the mores are so totally alien from our time, run around squandering their fortunes on hilarious misadventure and sexcapades with quite varied persons. It is a damn shame the graphic sexual scenes are edited out! But it's also hilarious to see what the monks who kept and trans...more
Ancient Rome was not a cradle of literary genius the way Athens was, or the way London would come to be. The Romans' gifts lay in science and architecture. But there were a few standouts. Horace is the poet of choice. And Petronius' Satyricon is the prose work that anyone can read and enjoy. The original satire to mock human folly, especially that of the disgustingly rich.
Aug 09, 2012
Nathan "N.R." Gaddis
marked it as the-value-of-a-dollar
Shelves:
classic-literature,
latin
Any help with translation/edition selection for Petronius will be most welcome. The more notes and apparatus the better. Preference of translation is for that stilted style which leaves the Latin flavor intact. Latest scholarship is also always a must. Is it too much to ask for a bi-lingual?
Possiblities:
P. G. Walsh from Oxford University Press, 1997/2009.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Satyricon-O...
Sarah Ruden from Hackett, 2000.
http://www.amazon.com/Satyricon-Petro...
J.P. Sullivan & Helen Morale...more
Possiblities:
P. G. Walsh from Oxford University Press, 1997/2009.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Satyricon-O...
Sarah Ruden from Hackett, 2000.
http://www.amazon.com/Satyricon-Petro...
J.P. Sullivan & Helen Morale...more
I started reading this books a few years ago, and for some reason I abandoned it after reading only about 30% of the text.
What I did read, was an interesting, although disjointed, description of life in Rome in the 1st century AD.
I plan on reading it all the way, and probably will do so by starting from the beggining.
What I did read, was an interesting, although disjointed, description of life in Rome in the 1st century AD.
I plan on reading it all the way, and probably will do so by starting from the beggining.
Nov 14, 2010
Emily
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Classics Majors
Shelves:
classics-books
All of Latin literature has it's quirks. But this has to be the quirkiest extant work there is.... (with the possible exception of Lucian's true story...but that's Greek so nevermind.....). Parts of it, I liked. Parts of it I hated. I'm really glad I translated it though...I think that helped with liking it.
Feb 27, 2011
John
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
classical-studies,
fiction
A key to understanding 1st Century Roman society. The first novel. "Cena Trimalchionis" is a set piece of Latin prose and should be familiar to all students of that language. Because of the subject matter, beware of bowlderized translations--I enjoyed the Penguin edition.
Mar 14, 2008
Sean Mooney
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Hardcore Romaphiles
Shelves:
classicalliterature
I would like to like this book more. I think my favor for it is in the romantic ideal that it is fragmented due to the lack of source documents and I would like to thin that somewhere the rest of the story is waiting to be dug up so the tale can be completed. I did enjoy reading this but alas due to the fact that it is incomplete I feel the story is too disjointed to really follow completely. If you are hip to the contemporary issues of Petronius' day there are parts of this book that stand as r...more
le livre le plus décadent qu'il soit donné de lire. Orgies, sexe, prostitution, sexe, orgie, vol, bagarres, sexe, vol, meurtre, sexe, orgie, orgie, sexe. La vita e bella !
ardu à lire mais d'une belle modernité et très drôle.
ardu à lire mais d'une belle modernité et très drôle.
May 16, 2009
Andy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
blue-nosed republicans and democrats alike
Shelves:
kool-imports
Oh my. Such bawdy goings-on depicted in all form of madness and debauchery. Such ribald tales arouse me so - all forms of nocturnal shenanigans are inexhaustibly described in erotic sexplanation. Now I have to watch the Fellini film again.
Satirical novel written during the reign of Nero that is absolutely hilarious. If you don't have a good knowledge of Roman history, get the annotated version or else you won't have a clue as to what is going on.
What the hell did I just read?! Man what the teacher said it was going to be an interesting read he wasn't joking. Never have I read more sex in a novel that was odd. Especially the last couple of chapters where the narrator was stuck being a slave and a lady was trying to have sex with him and they kept doing all of this weird stuff to him because he couldn't hold an erection. Goodness. Why would a teacher give this to us for reading?! It was only have the time that I actually understood what w...more
This is a fun book. I read this in my Humanities 110 Class at Reed College. I would consider this a semi-pornographic book from the antiquity. Humorous plot. Maybe satirical about the society at that time.
In times of incredible excess and class division between those at the top and everyone else, this portrayal of the roman elite in the imperial period seems more appropriate, approachable, and disturbing. At times this reads like some perverse ancient version of @GSelevater ( which tweets about thing overheard at Goldman Sachs). Petronius virtually invented the written form of the satiric language we all speak today. We are lucky that this text remains with us even if it is in an incredibly fragm...more
Excellent Roman novel which accurately portrays the weirdness/grotesqueness of the Romans. If you enjoy this book also consider checking out the Golden Ass, Daphnis and Chloe and other Greek and Roman novels.
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| The 40 greatest parties in literature | 1 | 4 | Sep 17, 2012 08:21am |
Gaius Petronius Arbiter (ca. 27–66) was a Roman courtier during the reign Nero. He is speculated to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to have been written during the Neronian age.
Tacitus, Plutarch and Pliny the Elder describe Petronius as the elegantiae arbiter, "judge of elegance" in the court of the emperor Nero. He was a member of the senatorial class who devoted himsel...more
More about Petronius...
Tacitus, Plutarch and Pliny the Elder describe Petronius as the elegantiae arbiter, "judge of elegance" in the court of the emperor Nero. He was a member of the senatorial class who devoted himsel...more
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“Nothing is falser than people's preconceptions and ready-made opinions; nothing is sillier than their sham morality...”
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