Some Suggested Topics for In-Class Reports on Petronius' Satyricon
compiled by John Porter, University of Saskatchewan

Notice: This material is the copyrighted property of the author and should not be reproduced without the author's permission.

• General Works
  • Courtney, E. A Companion to Petronius. Oxford, 2001.
  • Schmeling, G. A Commentary on The Satyrica of Petronius. Oxford and New York, 2011.

• The Satyricon and the tradition of Roman satire: its form and purpose
  • R. Astbury, "Petronius, P. Oxy. 3010, and Menippean Satire," CP 72 (1977) 22-31.
  • S. Bartsch, Actors in the Audience. Cambridge [Mass.], 1994.
  • R. Beck, "The Satyricon, Satire, Narrator and Antecedents," MH 39 (1982) 206-14.
  • S. Fredericks, "Seneca and Petronius: Menippean Satire under Nero," in E.S. Ramage et al., eds., Roman Satirists and their Satire (Park Ridge, 1974) 89-113.
  • J.C. Relihan, Ancient Menippean Satire. Baltimore, 1993.
  • J.P. Sullivan, "Petronius: Artist or Moralist," Arion 6 (1967) 71-88. [= N. Rudd, ed., Essays on Classical Literature Selected from Arion (Cambridge, 1972) 151-68]
  • J.P. Sullivan, "Satire and Realism in Petronius," in id., ed., Critical Essays on Latin Literature: Satire (London, 1963) 73-92.
  • P.G. Walsh, "Was Petronius a Moralist?" G&R 21 (1974) 181-90.

• The Satyricon and the ancient novel
  • E. Courtney, A Companion to Petronius, pp. 12-31
  • R. Astbury, "Petronius, P. Oxy. 3010, and Menippean Satire," CP 72 (1977) 22-31.
  • M.H. McDermott, "The Satyricon as a Parody of the Odyssey and Greek Romance," LCM 8 (1983) 82-85.
  • C. Mendell, "Petronius and the Greek Romance," CP 12 (1917) 158-72.
  • B. Perry, "Petronius and the Comic Romance," CP 20 (1925) 31-49.
  • P.G. Walsh, The Roman Novel. The Satyricon of Petronius and the Metamorphoses of Apuleius. (Cambridge, 1970).
  • for further bibliography, see the Bibliography for CLAS 121 page and the Xenophon of Ephesus' Ephesian Tale and the Greek Romantic Novel page.

• The narrator of the Satyricon
  • E. Courtney, A Companion to Petronius, pp. 35-43, 49-53
  • R. Beck, "Some Observations on the Narrative Technique of Petronius," Phoenix 27 (1973) 42-61.
  • R. Beck, "The Satyricon, Satire, Narrator and Antecedents," MH 39 (1982) 206-14.
  • R. Beck, "Encolpius at the Cena," Phoenix 29 (1975) 270-83.
  • Gian Biagio Conte, The Hidden Author: An Interpretation of Petronius' Satyricon (Berkeley, 1996).
  • F. Jones, "The Narrator and the Narrative of the Satyrica," Latomus 46 (1987) 810-19.
  • C.A. Knight, "Listening to Encolpius: Modes of Confusion in the Satyricon," University of Toronto Quarterly 58 (1989) 335-54.

• The author of the Satyricon: Petronius and the age of Nero
  • Vasily Rudich, Dissidence and Literature under Nero: The Price of Rhetoricization (London, 1997).
  • J.P. Sullivan, "Petronius' Satyricon and its Neronian Context," ANRW 2.32.3 (1985) 1666-86.
    • The existential Satyricon
      • William Arrowsmith, "Luxury and Death in the Satyricon," Arion 5 (1966) 304-31. [= N. Rudd, ed., Essays on Classical Literature Selected from Arion (Cambridge, 1972) 122-49.]
      • H. Bacon, "The Sibyl in the Bottle," Virginia Quarterly Review 34 (1958) 262-76.
      • S. Bartsch, Actors in the Audience. Cambridge [Mass.], 1994.
      • T.K. Hubbard, "The Narrative Architecture of Petronius' Satyricon," AC 55 (1986) 190-212.
      • R.M. Newton, "Trimalchio's Hellish Bath," CJ 77 (1982) 315-19.
      • E. Schlant, "Petronius: Our Contemporary," Helios 17 (1991) 49-71.

    • Petronius and F. Scott Fitzgerald: Trimalchio and Gatsby
      • F.S. Fitzgerald, Trimalchio: An Early Version of The Great Gatsby. Edited by J.L.W. West, III. Cambridge and New York, 2000.
      • D. and M.J. Gross, Understanding The Great Gatsby: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, 1998.
      • P.L. MacKendrick, "The Great Gatsby and Trimalchio," CJ 45 (1950) 307-14.
      • H.D. Rankin, "Notes on the Comparison of Petronius with Three Moderns," Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 18 (1970) 197-213.
      • Great Gatsby on-line chapter summary
      • Great Gatsby links
      • F. Scott Fitzgerald Links

• The Satyricon and Roman education
  • J.-A. Shelton, As the Romans Did
  • R.W. Daniel, "Liberal Education and Semiliteracy in Petronius," ZPE 40 (1980) 153-59.
  • G.A. Kennedy, "Encolpius and Agamemnon in Petronius," AJP 99 (1978) 171-78.
  • for further bibliography, see the CLAS 220: Education in Antiquity page

• Trimalchio at the baths: placing Satyricon 26-28 in its socio-historical context
  • J.-A. Shelton, As the Romans Did
  • J. DeLaine, "Bathing and Society," in J. DeLaine and D.E. Johnston, eds., Roman Baths and Bathing (Portsmouth, 1999) 8-16.
  • G.G. Fagan, Bathing in Public in the Roman World. Ann Arbor, 1999.
  • F.K. Yegül, Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity. New York, 1992.
  • for further bibliography, see the CLAS 220: Roman Baths page

• The Satyricon and Roman freedmen: Trimalchio in context
  • J.-A. Shelton, As the Romans Did
  • J. Andreau, Banking and Business in the Roman World. New York, 1999.
  • J. Andreau, "The Freedman," in A. Giardina, ed., The Romans (Chicago, 1993), chapter 6.
  • J. Clarke, Art in the Lives of Everyday Romans. Visual Representation and Non- Elite Viewers in Italy, 100 B.C. - A.D. 315. Cambridge, 2003.
  • Jean-Jacques Aubert, Business Managers in Ancient Rome: A Social and Economic Study of Institores, 200 B.C.-A.D. 250. Leiden, 1994.
  • J. Bodel, "Omnia in nummis: Money and the Monetary Economy in Petronius," Fondazione Niccolò Canussio, Convegno 2002: "Moneta, mercanti, banchieri."
  • J. Bodel, "Freedmen in the Satyricon: The Portrait of Hermeros," Petronian Society Newsletter 16 (1986) 10.
  • B. Boyce, The language of the freedmen in Petronius' Cena Trimalchionis. Leiden, 1991.
  • K.R. Bradley, Slavery and society at Rome. Cambridge and New York, 1994. [154-73]
  • J. Carlsen, Vilici and Roman Estate Managers until 284 AD. Rome, 1996.
  • L.A. Curchin, "Social relations in central Spain. Patrons, freedmen and slaves in the life of a Roman provincial hinterland," AncSoc 18 (1987 ) 75-89.
  • J.H. D'Arms, "The 'Typicality' of Trimalchio," in Commerce and Social Standing in Ancient Rome (Cambridge [Mass.], 1981) 97-120.
  • P.L. De Quiroga, "Freedman Social Mobility in Roman Italy," Historia 44 (1995) 326ff.
  • A.M. Duff, Freedmen in the early Roman empire. Oxford, 1928.
  • M. Finley, The Ancient Economy. Berkeley, 1973.
  • P. Garnsey, "Independent freedmen and the economy of Roman Italy under the Principate," Klio 63 (1981) 359-71.
  • M.L. Gordon, "The freedman's son in municipal life," JRS 21 (1931) 65ff.
  • N. Horsfall "The uses of literacy and the Cena Trimalchionis, II," G&R 36 (1989) 194-209.
  • S.R. Joshel, Work, identity, and legal status at Rome: a study of the occupational inscriptions. Norman, 1992.
  • A. Kirschenbaum, Sons, slaves and freedmen in Roman commerce. Jerusalem, 1987.
  • Eleanor Winsor Leach, "Money, Social Class and Decorative Taste in Flavian Pompeii."
  • A. Lintott, "Freedmen and Slaves in the Light of Legal Documents from First-Century A.D. Campania," CQ 52 (2002) 555-65.
  • P. López Barja de Quiroga, "Freedmen social mobility in Roman Italy," Historia 44 (1995) 326-48.
  • H. Mouritsen, The Freedman in the Roman World. Cambridge and New York, 2011.
  • L.H. Petersen, "The Baker, his Tomb, his Wife and her Breadbasket: The Monument of Eurysaces in Rome," Art Bulletin 85 (2003) 230-57.
  • L.H. Petersen, Freedman in Roman Art and Art History. Cambridge, 2006.
  • L.R. Taylor, "Freedmen and Freeborn in the Epitaphs of Imperial Rome," AJP 82 (1961) 113-32.
  • S. Treggiari, Roman Freedmen During the Late Republic. Oxford, 1969.
  • S. van Houtte, The freedmen at Pompeii. College Park, 1971.
  • P. Veyne, "Vie de Trimalcion," Annales E.S.C. 16 (1961) 213-47.
  • J. Whitehead, "The Cena Trimalchionis and Biographical Narration in Roman Middle-class Art," in P.J. Holliday, ed., Narrative and Event in Ancient Art (Cambridge, 1993) 299-325.
  • T. Wiedemann, Greek & Roman Slavery. London and New York, 1981.
  • Paul Zanker, Pompeii: Public and Private Life. Cambridge [Mass.], 1999.
  • for further bibliography, see the CLAS 220: Slavery in Antiquity page
    • The gauche Trimalchio and the House of the Vettii
      • J.-A. Shelton, As the Romans Did
      • G. Bagnani, "House of Trimalchio," AJP 75 (1954) 16-39.
      • L.F. Ball, The Domus Aurea and the Roman Architectural Revolution. Cambridge, 2003.
      • A. Boëthius, The Golden House of Nero. Michigan, 1960.
      • J.R. Clarke, Houses of Roman Italy, 100 B.C.-A.D. 250: Ritual, Space, and Decoration. Berkeley, 1991.
      • J.R. Clarke, Looking at lovemaking: constructions of sexuality in Roman art, 100 B.C.-A.D. 250. Berkeley, 1998. [esp. chapter 6]
      • S. Hales, The Roman House and Social Identity (Cambridge, 2003), chapter 5.
      • L. Richardson, Jr., Pompeii. An Architectural History. Baltimore, 1988. Reprinted, 1997.
      • for further bibliography, see the CLAS 220: Roman House page

• Trimalchio's feast and the typical Roman cena
  • J.-A. Shelton, As the Romans Did
  • K. Dunbabin, The Roman Banquet: Images of Conviviality. Cambridge, 2004.
  • for further bibliography, see the CLAS 220: Ancient Symposium/Convivium page and the CLAS 220: Food in Antiquity page
    • Trimalchio's feast and the cena in Roman satire
      • M. Morford, "Juvenal's Fifth Satire," AJP 98 (1977) 219-45.
      • G. Schmeling, "Trimalchio's Menu and Wine List," CP 65 (1970) 248-51.
      • L. Shero, "Cena in Roman Satire," CP 18 (1923) 126-43.

• The Widow of Ephesus (Satyricon 111-112) and the Roman view of women
  • R. Colton, "The Story of the Widow of Ephesus in Petronius and La Fontaine," CJ 71 (1975) 35-52.
  • E.D. Finkelpearl, Metamorphosis of Language in Apuleius: A Study of Allusion in the Novel. Ann Arbor, 1998.
  • A. Scobie, "Some Folktales in Graeco-Roman and Far Eastern Sources," Philologus 121 (1977) 1-23. [15-17]
  • A. Scobie, "Storytellers, Storytelling and the Novel in Graeco-Roman Antiquity," RhM 122 (1979) 229-59.
  • for further bibliography, see the Widow of Ephesus pages
    • The Widow of Ephesus and the comic adultery tale
      • G. Bechtle, "The Adultery-Tales in the Ninth Book of Apuleius' Metamorphoses," Hermes 123 (1995) 106-16.
      • A. Bonadeo, "Marriage and Adultery in the Decameron," PQ 60 (1981) 287-303.
              [on the adultery tales in Boccaccio's work (14th century), which often present adaptations of Apuleius and other ancient authors]
      • P.K. Kehoe, "The Adultery Mime Reconsidered," in D.F. Bright and E.S. Ramage, eds., Classical Texts and their Traditions: Studies in honor of C. R. Trahman (Chico, 1984) 89-106.
      • J.C. McKeown, "Augustan Elegy and Mime," PCPS 25 (1979) 71-84.
      • C. Panayotakis, Theatrum Arbitri: Theatrical Elements in the Satyrica of Petronius. Leiden, 1995.
      • J. Porter, "Adultery by the Book: Lysias 1 (On the Murder of Eratosthenes) and Comic Diegesis," Echos du monde classique / Classical Views 16 (1997) 421-53.
      • R.W. Reynolds, "The Adultery Mime," CQ 40 (1946) 77-84.
      • S. Trenkner, The Greek Novella in the Classical Period. Cambridge, 1958.
      • P. Ure, "The Widow of Ephesus: Some Reflections on an International Comic Theme," Durham University Journal 18 (1956) 1-9.

    • Later versions of the tale that you might consider by way of comparison
      • George Chapman, The Widow's Tears (1612)
      • Jeremy Taylor, Our Treatment of and Relation to Departed Friends (1613-1667)
      • Voltaire, Zadig (1747)
      • John Millington Synge, In the Shadow of the Glen (1903)
      • Martin Armstrong, "The Widow of Ephesus" (in The Fiery Dive, and other stories: 1929)
      • Jean Cocteau, L'École des Veuves (1936)
      • Christopher Fry, A Phoenix Too Frequent (1946)

• Sex in the Satyricon
  • E. Courtney, A Companion to Petronius, pp. 222-26
  • D. Blickman, "The Romance of Encolpius and Circe," A&R 33 (1988) 7-16.
  • J.R. Clarke, Looking at lovemaking: constructions of sexuality in Roman art, 100 B.C.-A.D. 250. Berkeley, 1998.
  • E. Fantham, "Stuprum: Public Attitudes and Penalties for Sexual Offences in Republican Rome," EMC 10 (1991) 267-91.
  • D. Fredrick, "Beyond the Atrium to Ariadne: Erotic Painting and Visual Pleasure in the Roman House," ClassAnt 14 (1995) 266-303. [Scopophilia and sadistic voyeurism in contemporary Roman erotic domestic art.]
  • C. Gill, "The Sexual Episodes in the Satyricon," CP 68 (1973) 172-85.
  • J. Griffin, "Augustan Poetry and the Life of Luxury," in id., Latin Poets and Roman Life (Chapel Hill, 1986) 1-31. [An earlier version of this article is available in JRS 66 (1976) 87-105.]
  • P. Murgatroyd, "Petronius, Satyricon 132," Latomus 59 (2000) 346-52.
  • J.P. Sullivan, "The Sexual Themes of the Satyricon," in The Satyricon of Petronius: A Literary Study (Bloomington, 1968) 232-53.
  • for further bibliography, see the CLAS 220: Eros and Attic Vases page
    • Homosexuality in the Satyricon
      • E. Cantarella, Bisexuality in the Ancient World. New Haven, 1992.
      • W.R. Dynes and S. Donaldson, eds. Homosexuality in the Ancient World. New York, 1992.
      • J. Griffin, "Augustan Poetry and the Life of Luxury," in id., Latin Poets and Roman Life (Chapel Hill, 1986) 24-26. [= JRS 66 (1976) 101-02.]
      • D.M. Halperin, "Homosexuality," in S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth, eds., The Oxford Classical Dictionary (third edition: Oxford and New York, 1996) 720-723.
      • T.K. Hubbard, ed., Homosexuality in Greece and Rome. A Sourcebook of Basic Documents. Berkeley, 2003.
      • S. Lilja, Homosexuality in Republican and Augustan Rome. (Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum 74.) Helsinki, 1983.
      • H.N. Parker, "The Myth of the Heterosexual: Anthropology and Sexuality for Classicists," Arethusa 34 (2001) 313-62.
      • J.R. Porter, "Orestes the Ephebe," in E. Csapo and M.C. Miller, eds., Poetry, Theory, Praxis: The Social Life of Myth, Word and Image in Ancient Greece. Essays in Honour of William J. Slater (Oxford, 2003) 146-77. [esp. pp. 153ff.]
      • T.W. Richardson, "Homosexuality in the Satyricon," C&M 35 (1984) 105-27.
      • A. Richlin, "Not Before Homosexuality: The Materiality of the Cinaedus and the Roman Law against Love between Men," Journal of the History of Sexuality 3 (1993) 523-73.
      • C.A. Williams, Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity. New York and Oxford, 1999.
      • C.A. Williams, "Greek Love at Rome," CQ 45 (1995) 517-39.

      • for Encolpius' sometimes rocky relationship with Giton, you might compare Catullus' similar relationship with the young Juventius: see Catullus 15, 21 24, 48, 81, and 99

• Petronius and Fellini's Satyricon
  • L. Betti, Fellini. Boston, 1979.
  • P.E. Bondanella, ed. Federico Fellini: Essays in Criticism. New York, 1978.
  • P.E. Bondanella, The Cinema of Federico Fellini. Princeton, 1992.
  • F. Burke, Federico Fellini: Variety Lights to La Dolce Vita. Boston, 1984
  • D.P. Costello, Fellini's Road. Notre Dame [Ind.], 1983.
  • F. Fellini, Fellini on Fellini. New York, 1976.
  • E. Murray, Fellini, the Artist. New York, 1976.
  • W.R. Nethercut, "Fellini and the Colosseum: Philosophy, Morality and the Satyricon," CB 47 (1971) 53-59.
  • S. Rosenthal, The Cinema of Federico Fellini. South Brunswick, 1976.
  • A. Solmi, Fellini. London, , 1967.
  • J. P. Sullivan, "The Social Ambience of Petronius' Satyricon and Fellini's Satyricon," in M.M. Winkler, ed., Classical Myth & Culture in the Cinema (Oxford and New York, 2001) 258-71.

Top of Page : Course Notes Page : Home Page