The Feminist’s Satyricon
The Search for Petronius in Egalia’s
Daughters
Petronius
• Gaius Petronius
c.27-66 CE
• Author of the satire, “The
Satyricon”
• Writes about status, style
(as in dress) and describes
ordinary people in his
culture
• Silenced by the Roman
Empire: Forced to commit
suicide by the emperor
Nero
• Petronius Bram
• Author of a satire, “The
Sons of Democracy”
• Writes about status, style
(as in dress) and describes
ordinary people in his
culture
• Silenced by a gov’t
official: His mother tells
him to be quiet
“And as always, Ruth Bram
had the last word.”
Petronius and the Symbols of the
Upper Class
•
•
We were nibbling at these splendid appetizers when suddenly the trumpets
blared a fanfare and Trimalchio was carried in, propped up on some piles of
miniature pillows in such a comic way that some of us couldn’t resist impolitely
smiling. His head, cropped close in a recognizable slave cut, protruded from a
cloak of blazing scarlet; his neck, heavily swathed already in bundles of
clothing, was wrapped in a large napkin bounded by an incongruous senatorial
purple stripe with little tassels dangling down here and there. On the little
finger of his left hand he sported an immense gilt ring; the ring on the last joint
of his fourth finger looked to be solid gold of the kind the lesser nobility wear,
but was actually, I think, an imitation, pricked out with small steel stars. Nor
does this exhaust the inventory of his trinkets. At least he rather ostentatiously
bared his arm to show us a large gold bracelet and an ivory circlet with a shiny
metal plate.
(trans. William Arrowsmith)
The Millionaire’s Dinner Party
• Trimalchio’s house has wall paintings which
depict his life story along with scenes from Greek
myth. An elite audience sees a lack of good taste
• Trimalchio’s appearance is half senatorial (holds a
purple-bordered napkin) and half equestrian (fake
gold rings) but he is really a freedman
• Status and appearance are extremely important in
this culture. This story is based on the real
excesses of the Roman elite, but Trimalchio takes
the excess to fantastic extremes.
What happens at the end?
• Trimalchio brings out his shroud
• Encolpius is nauseated
• Is he sick because of all of the rich food or
due to other excess?
Language in Egalia’s Daughters
• mafele = male
fele = female
• manwim = man (plural: menwim)
•
wom = woman (plural: wim)
•
testerical = hysterical
• Womfred Womm = a singer of popular
songs
Egalia’s Daughters
• Egalia’s Daughters
• While the concept of
creates a society where
gender is modern, in
men are forced to wear
the Roman world,
restrictive, uncomfortable
clothing, gesture and
clothing, are expected to
behavior (all
be content to be
associated with
“housebounds” and are
encouraged to be gentle,
modern gender
not strong. Again, the
concepts), determine
excessive behaviors of a
power and status in the
culture are taken to
Roman World.
extremes.
Life in Egalia
• “That’s exactly the way that all signs of
ancient patriarchy are explained away by
the experts. . . the ancient sculptures
represent fele figures even though any child
can see it is a manwom’s body and without
any basis except the assumption that all
cultures are necessarily dominated by wim
.” (p.156).
The Appearance of Ruth Bram
•
The attire of the ruling class, as modeled by Petronius’ mother, Ruth Bram:
• “Mum was a handsome wom. She had a fine rounded head and shortcropped hair that always stood straight up. A straight nose, sharply
defined features, small piercing pale blue eyes, a thin determined
mouth, straight shoulders and distinctive movements. When she
moved, she always did so purposefully and efficiently. Her voice,
which was sharp and penetrating, always gave the impression that she
knew what she was talking about, even when she didn’t. That was
how a wom ought to be. Besides, she was always stylishly dressed. A
loose brown tunic and baggy trousers. Brown shoes with thick soles.
She usually wore a white silk scarf around her neck. She always looked
neat. An attractive wom, such as menwin dream of. Petronius knew
that.”
Petronius’ clothing
• “He [Petronius] was red-cheeked and sweating. He
glanced quickly towards his armpits to see whether it
showed. The turquoise blouse had unmistakeably
begun to take on a darker colour. He sweated even
more. The blouse clung; he could feel the material
against his ribs. . . . He fixed a wad of cotton-wool in
each armpit and hurried back up. His tight shoes
were rubbing. Then he realized he had forgotten the
little luminous handbag, a special one for the ball,
which had to be fastened to the gold cord, and he
had to run back down again.”
Food for Thought
• What is the difference between “Culture”
and “culture”? Who maintains the
boundaries between the two concepts?
How and why are they maintained? Or are
they?
• What are the values of the elite?
• What are the social norms?
Next Week
• How does Petronius rebel?
• Who is horrified by his rebellion?
• Why does Brantenberg describe the men as
“laughing in liberated defiance”?