The Satyricon of Petronius, a comic novel written in the first century A.D., is famous today primarily for its amazing banquet tale, "Trimalchio's Feast." But this episode is only one part of the larger picture of life during Nero's rule presented in the work. In this accessible discussion of Petronius's masterful use of parody, Gian Biagio Conte offers an interpretation of the Satyricon as a whole. He combines the scholarly precision of close reading with a significant, original theoretical model.
At the heart of his interpretation, Conte reveals the technique of the "hidden author" that Petronius employs at the expense of his characters, in particular the teller of the story, Enclopius. By remaining hidden outside the narrative, Petronius invites the reader to smile at the folies de grandeur that occur in a culture of scholars and declaimers. Yet as Conte shows, behind the parody and inexhaustible humor of the Satyricon lies an unexpectedly serious lament. For those familiar with the Satyricon, as well as for new readers, Conte's book will be a reliable, enjoyable guide to the wonders the Satyricon contains.
The Satyricon of Petronius, a comic novel written in the first century A.D., is famous today primarily for its amazing banquet tale, "Trimalchio's Feast." But this episode is only one part of the larger picture of life during Nero's rule presented in the

- 224 pages
- English
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Information
Publisher
University of California PressYear
2023Print ISBN
9780520207158
Edition
1eBook ISBN
9780520918504
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Preface
- CHAPTER ONE The Mythomaniac Narrator and the Hidden Author
- CHAPTER TWO The Mythomaniac Narrator and the Longing for the Sublime
- CHAPTER THREE The Deceptiveness of Myth
- CHAPTER FIVE The Quest for a Genre (or Chasing Will o’ the Wisps?) Some Skeptical Thoughts on Menippean Satire
- CHAPTER SIX Realism and Irony
- Abbreviations
- Bibliography
- General Index
- Index Locorunt
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Yes, you can access The Hidden Author by Gian Biagio Conte in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Ancient & Classical Literary Criticism. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.