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The Satyricon/Seneca, The Apocolocyntosis

Author Petronius, Seneca
Introduction by J. P. Sullivan
Translated by J. P. Sullivan
Paperback
$14.00 US
Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Classics
On sale Dec 02, 1986 | 256 Pages | 978-0-14-044489-6
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Perhaps the strangest—and most strikingly modern—work to survive from the ancient world, The Satyricon relates the hilarious mock epic adventures of the impotent Encolpius, and his struggle to regain virility. Here Petronius brilliantly brings to life the courtesans, legacy-hunters, pompous professors and dissolute priestesses of the age - and, above all, Trimalchio, the archetypal self-made millionaire whose pretentious vulgarity on an insanely grand scale makes him one of the great comic characters in literature. Seneca's The Apocolocyntosis, a malicious skit on 'the deification of Claudius the Clod', was designed by the author to ingratiate himself with Nero, who was Claudius' successor. Together, the two provide a powerful insight into a darkly fascinating period of Roman history.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
The Satyricon; The ApocolocyntosisPETRONIUS
Introduction
The Author and Date of the Satyricon
The Extent of the Work and the Plot
The Literary Qualities of the Satyricon
On the Text and Translation

Acknowledgments

The Satyricon
Puteoli
Dinner with Trimalshio
Eumolpus
The Road to Croton
Croton

The Fragments and the Poems
List of Characters
Notes on the Satyricon
Notes on the Fragments and Poems

SENECA
Introduction
The Authorship and Date of the Apocolocyntosis
The Place of the Work in Seneca's Writings
The Literary Qualities of the Apocolocyntosis
On the Text and Translation

The Apocolocyntosis of the Divine Claudius

Notes on the Apocolocyntosis

Gaius Petronius Arbiter was a Roman courtier. He was the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel written during the Neronian era. View titles by Petronius
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, statesman, philosopher, advocate and man of letters, was born at Cordoba in Spain around 4 BC. He rose to prominence in Rome, pursuing a career in the courts and political life, for which he had been trained, while also acquiring celebrity as an author of tragedies and essays. Falling foul of successive emperors (Caligula in AD 39 and Claudius in AD 41), he spent eight years in exile, allegedly for an affair with Caligula’s sister. Recalled in AD 49, he was made praetor and was appointed tutor to the boy who was to become, in AD 54, the emperor Nero. On Nero’s succession, Seneca acted for some eight years as an unofficial chief minister. The early part of this reign was remembered as a period of sound government, for which the main credit seems due to Seneca. His control over Nero declined as enemies turned the emperor against him with representations that his popularity made him a danger, or with accusations of immorality or excessive wealth. Retiring from public life he devoted his last three years to philosophy and writing, particularly the Letters to Lucilius. In AD 65 following the discovery of a plot against the emperor, in which he was thought to be implicated, he and many others were compelled by Nero to commit suicide. His fame as an essayist and dramatist lasted until two or three centuries ago, when he passed into literary oblivion, from which the twentieth century has seen a considerable recovery. View titles by Seneca

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Perhaps the strangest—and most strikingly modern—work to survive from the ancient world, The Satyricon relates the hilarious mock epic adventures of the impotent Encolpius, and his struggle to regain virility. Here Petronius brilliantly brings to life the courtesans, legacy-hunters, pompous professors and dissolute priestesses of the age - and, above all, Trimalchio, the archetypal self-made millionaire whose pretentious vulgarity on an insanely grand scale makes him one of the great comic characters in literature. Seneca's The Apocolocyntosis, a malicious skit on 'the deification of Claudius the Clod', was designed by the author to ingratiate himself with Nero, who was Claudius' successor. Together, the two provide a powerful insight into a darkly fascinating period of Roman history.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Table of Contents

The Satyricon; The ApocolocyntosisPETRONIUS
Introduction
The Author and Date of the Satyricon
The Extent of the Work and the Plot
The Literary Qualities of the Satyricon
On the Text and Translation

Acknowledgments

The Satyricon
Puteoli
Dinner with Trimalshio
Eumolpus
The Road to Croton
Croton

The Fragments and the Poems
List of Characters
Notes on the Satyricon
Notes on the Fragments and Poems

SENECA
Introduction
The Authorship and Date of the Apocolocyntosis
The Place of the Work in Seneca's Writings
The Literary Qualities of the Apocolocyntosis
On the Text and Translation

The Apocolocyntosis of the Divine Claudius

Notes on the Apocolocyntosis

Author

Gaius Petronius Arbiter was a Roman courtier. He was the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel written during the Neronian era. View titles by Petronius
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, statesman, philosopher, advocate and man of letters, was born at Cordoba in Spain around 4 BC. He rose to prominence in Rome, pursuing a career in the courts and political life, for which he had been trained, while also acquiring celebrity as an author of tragedies and essays. Falling foul of successive emperors (Caligula in AD 39 and Claudius in AD 41), he spent eight years in exile, allegedly for an affair with Caligula’s sister. Recalled in AD 49, he was made praetor and was appointed tutor to the boy who was to become, in AD 54, the emperor Nero. On Nero’s succession, Seneca acted for some eight years as an unofficial chief minister. The early part of this reign was remembered as a period of sound government, for which the main credit seems due to Seneca. His control over Nero declined as enemies turned the emperor against him with representations that his popularity made him a danger, or with accusations of immorality or excessive wealth. Retiring from public life he devoted his last three years to philosophy and writing, particularly the Letters to Lucilius. In AD 65 following the discovery of a plot against the emperor, in which he was thought to be implicated, he and many others were compelled by Nero to commit suicide. His fame as an essayist and dramatist lasted until two or three centuries ago, when he passed into literary oblivion, from which the twentieth century has seen a considerable recovery. View titles by Seneca

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