THE SATYRICON OF PETRONIUS ARBITER
Complete and unexpurgated translation by W. C. Firebaugh, in which are incorporated the forgeries of Nodot and Marchena, and the readings introduced into the text by De Salas.
PREFACE
Among the difficulties which beset the path of the conscientious translator, a sense of his own unworthiness must ever take precedence; but another, scarcely less disconcerting, is the likelihood of misunderstanding some allusion which was perfectly familiar to the author and his public, but which, by reason of its purely local significance, is obscure and subject to the misinterpretation and emendation of a later generation.
A translation worthy of the name is as much the product of a literary epoch as it is of the brain and labor of a scholar; and Mel-mouth's version of the letters of Pliny the Younger, made, as it was, at a period when the art of English letter writing had attained its highest excellence, may well be the despair of our twentieth century apostles of specialization. Who, today, could imbue a translation of the Golden Ass with the exquisite flavor of William Adlington's unscholarly version of that masterpiece? Who could rival Arthur Golding's rendering of the Metamorphoses of Ovid, or Francis Hicke's masterly rendering of Lucian's True History? But eternal
life means endless change and in nothing is this truth more strikingly manifest than in the growth and decadence of living languages and in the translation of dead tongues into the ever changing tissue of the living. Were it not for this, no translation worthy of the name would ever stand in need of revision, except in instances where the discovery and collation of fresh manuscripts had improved the text. In the case of an author whose characters speak in the argot proper to their surroundings, the necessity for revision is
even more imperative; the change in the cultured speech of a language is a process that requires years to become pronounced, the evolution of slang is rapid and its usage ephemeral. For example Stephen Gaselee, in his bibliography of Petronius, calls attention to Harry Thurston Peck's rendering of "bell um pomum" by "he's a daisy," and remarks, appropriately enough, "that this was well enough for 1898; but we would now be more inclined to render it "he's a peach." Again, Peck renders "illud erat vivere" by "that
was life," but, in the words of our lyric American jazz, we would be more inclined to render it "that was the life." "But," as Professor
Gaselee has said, "no rendering of this part of the Satyricon can be final, it must always be in the slang of the hour."
"Some," writes the immortal translator of Rabelais, in his preface, "have deservedly gained esteem by translating; yet not many condescend to translate but such as cannot invent; though to do the first well, requires often as much genius as to do the latter. I wish, reader, thou mayest be as willing to do the author justice, as I have strove to do him right."
1
M,-_,_ny schob:s have l,-_,_mented the failcu:e of Justus Llpsms to comment upon Petromus or echt ,-_,_n ed.ihon of ::he Satyrlcon. Had he done so, he mighhave gc:1e fx: tmvard ?ierc:r.g :::he veil cf dart.r.ess which enshrouds t..lce authorship of he i1
regret. The master who delineated Tristram S!Jandy's father and the i ntrlgue beDveen the \"X/ldov;r \"X/adman and \Jncle Toby wouJd h,- ve WC.?.
CONTENTS: PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
REA.LISM
FORGERIES
TP.t.E SA'T'IRICON VOLlJJvlli I. VOLuME E. VOLlJJvlli III. VOLuME IV VOLlJJvlli V NOTES PROSTITUTION
CH!l.PTERNCTES
CJ Glad a':o!
17 l:Glpotence 26 Peepholes n 34 SJver Skeletorc 36 Mar )'dS
40 A pLe full of birds
2
116 Life in Rome
116 Legacy hunting
119 Castration
127 Circe's voice
131 Sputum in charms
131 The "infamous finger"
138 The dildo
The Cordax
SIX NOTES BY MARCHENA Army of the Rhine
I. Soldiers in love
II. Courtesans III. Greek love IV. Pollution
V. Virginity VI. Pandars BIBLIOGRAPHY
ILLUSTRATIONS:
The Witches [Frontpiece]
An Extemporary Declamation An Old Herb Woman Hurrying to the Inn
Making Off
Tryphena
The Holy Mysteries
Quartilla
Psyche
The Catamite The Debauch The Drunkards
Quartilla and Giton The Chink in the Door Pannychis
The Procession
3
The Guilty Slave Fortunata Encolpius
The Rope Dancers
The Homerists
The Entry of Habinnas Fortunata and Habinnas Fortunata Dancing
The Bath
The Disturbance
Giton
The Tell-tale Shoes Eumolpus Eumolpus Stoned The InnKeeper
The Fight at the Inn The Embarkation The Fight
Eumolpus Reciting The Ephesian Matron The Rescue of Tryphena Corax
Chrysis
Circe
Circe and Encolpius
Circe Enraged
The Priestess' Revenge
Proselenos Encolpius Beaten Encolpius and Chrysis On the Road
INTRODUCTION.
Of the many masterpieces which classical antiquity has bequeathed to modern times, few have attained, at intervals, to such popularity; few have so gripped the interest of scholars and men of letters, as has this scintillating miscellany known as the Satyricon, ascribed by tradition to that Petronius who, at the court of Nero, acted as arbiter of elegance and dictator of fashion. The flash-ing, wit, the masterly touches which bring out the characters with all the detail of a fine old copper etching; the marvelous use of realism by this, its first prophet; the sure knowledge of the perspective and background best adapted to each episode; the racy style, so smooth, so elegant, so simple when the educated are speaking, beguile the reader and blind him, at first, to the many discrepan-
cies and incoherences with which the text, as we have it, is marred. The more one concentrates upon this author, the more apparent these faults become and the more one regrets the lacunae in the text. Notwithstanding numerous articles which deal with this work, some from the pens of the most profound scholars, its author is still shrouded in the mists of uncertainty and conjecture. He is as impersonal as Shakespeare, as aloof as Flaubert, in the opinion of Charles Whibley, and, it may be added, as genial as Rabelais; an enigmatic genius whose secret will never be laid bare with the resources at our present command. As I am not writing for scholars, I do not intend going very deeply into the labyrinth of critical controversy which surrounds the author and the work, but I shall deal with a few of the questions which, if properly understood, will enhance the value of the Satyricon, and contribute, in some degree, to a better understanding of the author. For the sake of convenience the questions discussed in this introduction will be arranged in the following order:
1. The Satyricon.