The Satyricon
Gaius Petronius Arbiter
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Satyricon (or Satyrica) is a Latin work of fiction in a mixture of prose and poetry. It is believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as a certain Titus Petronius. As with the Metamorphoses of Apuleius, classical scholars often describe it as a "Roman novel", without necessarily implying continuity with the modern literary form.
The surviving portions of the text detail the misadventures of the narrator, Encolpius, and his lover, a handsome sixteen-year-old boy named Giton. Throughout the novel, Encolpius has a hard time keeping his lover faithful to him as he is constantly being enticed away by others. Encolpius's friend Ascyltus (who seems to have previously been in a relationship with Encolpius) is another major character. It is a rare example of a Roman novel, the only other surviving example (quite different in style and plot) being Metamorphoses written by Lucius Apuleius. It is also extremely important evidence for the reconstruction of what everyday life must have been like for the lower classes during the early Roman Empire.
(Summary taken from Wikipedia) (7 hr 56 min)
Chapters
Reviews
Well-read but problematic version
Shikari
The readers of this Roman erotic novel have done a generally good job (though the Classical names are, as usual, unevenly treated by different readers). It's very unfortunate, though, that the readers decided to go for this particular version of this fragmentary novel probably written in the reign of Nero by Gaius Petronius Arbiter. This translation makes for good reading, but only by using forgeries that fill in the gaps in this extremely lacunose text. You get a rounded story cost of avoiding the true nature of the original text which contains a number of episodes without connection and with much missing material.