The Satyricon (also called Satyrica) is a Latin work thought to have been written about 65 GC by Gaius Petronius Arbiter. The Satyricon mixes prose and poetry and combines in places epic diction with mundane, comic events. It chronicles the misadventures of the retired illustrious gladiator Encolpius, his sixteen-year-old boyfriend Giton, and the lecherous old poet Eumolpus. The Satyricon depicts marginalized men’s encounters with highly privileged women as these men strive to improve their lives and enjoy their sexuality.
Trimalchio’s marriage to Fortunata in the Satyricon shows difficulties with medieval philosopher Peter Abelard’s advice about women to his son Astralabe. … Read the post Abelard’s advice to his son Astralabe & Trimalchio’s Fortunata
The highly rhetorical Satyricon begins with declamations that parody criticism of education. A gendered perspective shows current application to feminism. … Read the post declamation in Satyricon’s school of rhetoric: a gendered perspective
In the Satyricon, Proselenos & Oenothea sought to cure Encolpius’s impotence. They mocked Jesus without his selfless love and healing success. … Read the post curing Encolpius’s impotence: Proselenos & Oenothea unlike Jesus
Encolpius suffered impotence with Circe in the Satyricon. The Virgilian cento describing his drooping penis proclaims the epic disaster of men’s impotence. … Read the post epic disaster of men’s impotence: Encolpius in the Satyricon
Despite metaphorical figuring of the penis as a weapon of violence, men’s erections should invoke hope for resurrection as in Abu Nuwas’s Arabic poetry. … Read the post resurrection: overcoming the poetic problem with penises & erections
In reading ancient Latin literature, pioneering 19th-century social scientist William Sanger didn’t distinguish between cultural constructions and reality. … Read the post ancient Latin literature in Sanger's 19th-century social science
Combining sex, crime, and outrage, retellings of the widow of Ephesus story have long been at the sweet spot of communicative attention. … Read the post widow of Ephesus story in three retellings
In the Satyricon, the crowd applauded with a shower of stones Eumolpus’ epic poem on the fall of Troy. … Read the post Eumolpus pelted for reciting poetry in the Satyricon
Graffiti and the richly jeweled woman found in the Pompeii gladiators’ barracks underscore gladiators’ high sexual allure among Roman women. … Read the post gladiators’ sexual allure in real understanding