The Satyricon

Readers only have access to fragments of the original text of The Satyricon. How does this impact the reading experience? What details or context did you particularly miss or wish you had access to? How did the experience of reading a text that has only survived in fragments compare to the experience of reading a deliberately nonlinear text, such as a postmodern novel?

A variety of female characters such as Quartilla, Tryphaena, and Circe are shown to be strongly motivated by sexual desire. What does the representation of these characters tell us about ancient Roman ideas about femininity and gender? How is the depiction of the female characters related to Petronius’s project of satire and cultural critique?

Encolpius and Giton move to different locales throughout the text, and therefore are usually viewed as strangers and outsiders to the communities they visit. How does this status impact character development and the plot events that unfold? How does the structure of following characters as they move from place to place facilitate or undermine the work of satire?