The Satyricon is the most celebrated work of fiction to have survived from the ancient world. The first realistic novel and the father of the picaresque genre, it recounts the sleazy progress of a pair of literate scholars as they wander through the cities of the southern Mediterranean. En route they encounter characters the author wickedly satirizes - a teacher in higher education, a libidinous priestess, a vulgar freedman turned millionaire, a manic poet, a superstitious sea-captain, and a femme fatale.
The subject of a controversial film by Federico Fellini, The Satyricon has fascinated the literary world of Europe since its first appearance in English. Praised for its elegant and hilarious description of the underside of Roman society, it has also been condemned for some of its lewder episodes. This new and lively translation by P. G. Walsh captures the gaiety of the original, and the edition is complemented by a helpful introduction. There are also detailed notes which serve to illuminate the reading of a text rich in literary in-jokes and allusion.
The Satyricon is the most celebrated prose work to have survived from the ancient world. It can be described as the first realistic novel, the father of the picaresque genre. It recounts the sleazy progress of a pair of literate scholars as they wander through the cities of the southern Mediterranean in the age of Nero, encountering en route type-figures whom the author wishes to satirize. P.G. Walsh captures the spirit of the original in this new and lively translation. His introduction and detailed notes provide the reader with a comprehensive guide to the meanings and intentions of the story and the later history of its literary influence.
