isa-normaladvance-1909-00244

Description:	244THE NORMAL ADVANCEThe Satira of PetroniusHELEN ROSSProse fiction never attained the high standardamong the Greeks and Romans which it has inmodern literature. The imaginative genius ofthe Greeks was too vivid, too lofty to confine itself to prose. It found expression naturally inthe epics of Homer, and in the works of thegreat tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles andEuripides.Greek life was portrayed in the comedy, inthe drama, but never in that form of fictionwhich modern literature knows as the novel.In addition to the different character of theGreek imaginative genius there is another reason why the Greeks did not produce the novel.The plot of the modern novel is developed uponthe idea of romantic love. To the Greek thisidea—romantic love, was wholly lacking.As practically all of the Roman literature isa direct imitation of the Greek, the conditionsin iliis field are almost identical with those ofthe Greek literature. In fact there are only twoLatin works of genuine prose fiction extant,the Satira of Petronius and the Metamorphosisof Apuleius.The author of the Satira is not definitelyknown, but he is identified with the Petroniuswhom Tactitus describes in his Annals for theyear 66 A. D. Such a man as Tacitus portrays,brilliant, cynical and familiar with every phaseof life, might easily be identified with theauthor of such a work as the Satira. Then theSatira clearly was written in this period—thefirst century of the Empire.The work itself is neither a romance nor asatire. Besides being interesting as a literaryproduction, the Satira gives an excellent picture of the life of the Roman bourgeoise andis valuable from an archaeological and linguistic point of view.Two boon companions, Encolpius and Ascyl-tus are invited to a dinner given by the freed-man Trimalchio, and the story of their adventures there is given in full. Trimalchio himselfis a gluttonous, red-faced, bald-headed oldfreedman, who has amassed an enormous fortune by rather questionable means. He is continually bragging of his wealth, and makesgreat pretensions to be a man of learning although his ignorance is unparalleled. Thedetails of the dinner are given in full,it presents a combination of utter extravagance and lack of taste. Trimalchio entersthe room after all his guests are seated,picks his teeth with a silver pin, and actsbored. When the wine is served he politelyremarks, This is even better than I put on mytable yesterday when I had guests who were ofmuch higher social standing than you.Course after course of rich food, wines,meats and pastry is served, and elaborate mechanical devices are brought into play for theamusement of the guests. The company nowbegin their conversation. One fellow tells talesof all the persons seated at the table in a lowtone of voice, another laments the loss of thegood old times, some tell stories of friends whohave recently died, others still amuse themselveswith various subjects of conversation. Trimalchio jokes, displays his learning and recitespoetry of his own composition. The report ofthe various happenings on Trimalchios estateis read by a slave in imitation of the RomanActa Diurna.The conversation is interspersed with coursesof figs, nuts, raisins and various other fruits.About this time a friend of Trimalchio enterswith his wife and retinue. The boasting freedman then has his will brought in and read.After the reading of this a second meal isserved.Finally Trimalchio lies down upon his couchas if he were lying in state, the hornblowers
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/34274
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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