Petronius (Loeb)

The story declines in interest almost as much as it does in decency. Its attraction lies in the verse and criticism put into the mouth of Eumolpus, a debased poet whom Encolpius meets in a picture gallery. With him, the adventures of the trio continue. There is a lodging-house brawl, a voyage where they find themselves in the hands of old enemies—the ship’s captain Lichas (whose wife, Hedyle, they appear to have led astray), and Tryphaena, a wandering courtesan who claims the Mediterranean coast as her province and has some unexplained claim on Giton’s affections. They settle these disputes only to be involved in a shipwreck and cast ashore at Croton An ancient Greek city in southern Italy., where they grow fat on their pretense of being men of fortune. They disappear from sight: Encolpius after a disgraceful series of vain encounters with a woman named Circe, and Eumolpus after a scene where he bequeaths his body to be eaten by his heirs.

Coherence almost fails long before the end. The episode in which Encolpius kills a goose—the sacred bird of Priapus The Greek god of fertility and gardens, often associated with phallic imagery.—gives a hint (but no more) that the wrath of Priapus was the thread on which the whole Satyricon was strung. Yet, the life of the later portions of the novel lies in the critical and poetical fragments scattered throughout. These show Petronius at his best as a master of language, a great critic, and an intelligent enthusiast for the traditions of classical poetry and oratory. The love of style, which was stronger in him even than his interest in manners, doubly enriches his work.