﻿II. 



The Age of Petronius Arbiter. 

 By CHARLES BECK. 



{Communicated May 13, 1856.) 



Introduction. 

 Contents and Value of the Satyricon of Petronius. 



Among the small number of Latin writers of prose fiction, Petronius, the author of 

 the Satyricon, occupies a prominent place. While the indecent and obscene character 

 of many portions renders the work unfit as a means of instruction of youth, and offen- 

 sive to the good taste even of persons of mature age and fixed prmciples, the quality of 

 its language and style and the nature of its contents constitute it one of the most inter- 

 esting and important relics of Roman literature, antiquities, and history. 



The work, at least the portion Avhich has come down to us, contains the adventures 

 of a dissipated, unprincipled, but clever, cultivated, and well-informed young man, 

 Encolpius, the hero himself being the narrator. The book opens with a discussion on 

 the defects of the existing system of education, in which the short-comings of both the 

 teachers and parents are pointed out. Next follows a scene in the Forum, in which 

 the hero and his companion, Ascyltus, are concerned, and which exhibits some of the 

 abuses connected with judicial proceedings. After a brief and passing mention of the 

 vices and hj^ocrisy of the priests, the highly interesting portion, containing an account 

 of the banquet of Trimalchio, follows. This is succeeded by the account of the ac- 

 quaintance which the hero, disappointed and dispirited by the faithless conduct of his 

 companion, forms Avith a philosopher, Eumolpus, who, besides discussing some subjects 

 relating to art, especially painting, and to literature, gives an account of his infamous 



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