Petronian Society Newsletter Vol. 1 No. 2 Dec. 1970

Department of Classics, University of Florida, 125 Dauer Hall, P.O. Box 117435, Gainesville, FL 32611-7435

VOL 1. NO. 2 DECEMBER 1970

EDITOR: GARETH SCHMELING EDITOR FOR ON-LINE EDITION : JEAN ALVARES

CORRECTIONS FOR VOL. 1 NO. 1

    Dobroiu, E., "Muraena et Littera." Read: murrana et litterae: murem cui ranam alligatam fascemque betae.
    Rankin, H.D. wrote "Eating People is Right: Petronius 141 and a Topos." not J .F. Killeen.
    Verdière, R., "Jeux de mots chez Pètrone." Read: <medius>, medius fidius, iam peristi.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

    Betts, G.G., "Petronius C.50 and a Gloss in Hesychius," Linguistic Communications: Monash University 1 (1970) 74-76. The point of the story in Satyricon 50 may be explained by a gloss in Hesychius ."Trimalchio knows that Corinthium aes is an alloy and he wants to explain the term by means of ; he conceives the connecting link to be /massa and he tells his story to give this etymology a historical justification."
    Brozek, M., "De Petronii Satyricon excerptorum pleniorum origine," Hommagesà Marcel Renard: Collection Latomus 101 (Brussels 1969) Vol. I, pp. 176-179.
    Cameron, A., "Myth and Meaning in Petronius: Some Modern Comparisons," Latomus 29 (1970) 397-425. A study of symbols common to the Odyssey, Ulysses, and the Satyricon. An analysis of the myths and symbols shows Petronius consciously alluding to them to give his work a second and deeper level of meaning.
    Cameron, H. D., "The Sibyl in the Satyricon," CJ 65 (1970) 337-339. Trimalchio inserts the story of the Sibyl because of his preoccupation with death and because of his confusion between Scylla and Sibylla.
    Petronio Arbitro: Dal "Satyricon," Introd., nota critica, testo e trad. a cura di Emanuele Castorina (Bologna: Ed. Pàtron, 1970). 234 pp., L. 3.500. Scopo principale di guesta pubblicazione è di presentare la nuova posizione (vedi saggio introduttivo: pp. 9-83) assunta dall'autore nel campo degli studiosi petroniani "separatisti." Da vari il Castorina, già discepolo del Marmorale e tuttora convinto che il noto passo di Tacito basti da solo a distinguere i due Petronii (vedi pp. 16-21), ritiene impossibile collocare il Satyricon tra la fine del II secolo e l'inizio del III, sembrandogli valide le preclusioni avanzate dagli storici, dagli archeologi, dai numismatici e dagli economisti "unitari." Rileva però che tali preclusioni non riguardano mai l'età dei Flavi o l' inizio del II secolo: e poiché Petronio mostra di conoscere (Sat. 2,7) "una ventosa ed abnorme eloquenze da poco nuper passata dall' Asia in Atene," e nessuna spiegazione sembra al Castorina plausibile all'infuori del passaggio della Seconda Sofistica in Atene, avvenuto sotto Traiano e all' inizio del regno di Adriano ad opera dei retori asiani Lolliano di Efeso e Scopeliano di Clazomene, questo sarebbe il terminus post quem - ma anche (dato il nuper) ante quem - della datazione del Satyricon (vedi pp. 36-38). Le successive parti del volume (nota critica sul testo, e testo latino con traduzione italiana della Cena Trimalchionis, della Troiae halosis e del Bellum civile) sono in funzione del saggio introduttivo, dato che dalla Troiae halosis risulterebbe poco probabile che ne fosse autore un cortigiano di Nerone, e dal Bellum civile, invece, risulterebbe verosimile una polemica con Lucano a distanza di mezzo secolo, quando la Pharsalia era stata interamente pubblicata e l' esperimento lucaneo veniva a più riprese imitato. (Emanuele Castorina)

Cizek, E., "Le Satyricon de Pétrone est-il une oeuvre litteraire moderne?" Filomata 227 (1969) 349-355. On pourrait rendre une réponse affirmative si on pensait à la riche invention de Pétrone, éblouissante de verve spontanée, fraîche - familière pour un lecteur de notre temps - et à son art de structurer, d'enrichir et de nuancer, voire même de changer les caractères des héros. Il y a sans doute un message moderne dans l'art de Pétrone et dans sa capacité de faire vivre les hommes et les moeurs. Pourtant, il ne faut pas oublier que le romancier dresse dans le Satyricon une véritable fresque de son temps. La modernité de Pétrone c'est la fraîcheur d'un écrivain qui va jusqu'aux sources difficilement abordables de l'art des grandes et belles fictions, c'est la maîtrise d'un artiste qui observe profondément l'homme. La modernité de Pétrone pousse sur la terre riche de la connaissance d'une epoque historique donnée, de l'epoque où il vit. On peut toucher la modernité de Pétrone à condition de ne pas la couper artificiellement des références très riches à l'époque de l'écrivain. Mais la récompense d'un tel travail prudent est vraiment magnifique et à la portée de n' importe quel lecteur. S' il est capable d'éviter les écueils d'une lecture hâtive ou au contaire égarée parmi les particularités techniques du texte, tout jeune homme de notre temps saurait décoder - pour ainsi dire - le sens actuel, le sens vivant et le charme inoubliable du Satyricon. (E. Cizek)
Cizek, E., Senèque, L'Apocoloquintose - Pétrone, Le Satyricon (Bucuresti: Editura Pentru Literatura, 1967. L' auteur y donne une traduction roumaine de l'Apocoloquintose et du Satyricon, accompagnée de notes explicatives et d'une étude introductive. Dans cette dernière, l'auteur relève les sources et l'evolution de la satire ménippée qui, dans le Satyricon mêle sa vocation avec la structure du genre romanesque. L'auteur aborde donc le problème des modèles et des matrices, celui de la trame fondamentale, de la construction des personnages, du langage etc. À son avis, le Satyricon fait ressortir un périple burlesque ou s'épanouit une vaste fresque des moeurs de l'époque neronienne. Mais dans les profondeurs, voire même dans les couches sous-jacentes de cette fresque, on peut découvrir des traces de morale épicurienne - Pétrone n'est guère un amoral au vrai sens du mot - la recherche du sens de l'existence humaine à travers ses données immanentes, les seules reconnues et aimée par les disciples du

. (E. Cizek)
    Cutt, T. and Nyenhuis, J., Petronius: Cena Trimalchionis (Detroit: Wayne State Press, 1970) 134p. $3.95 (paperback). This is a school text of the Cena with Latin-English vocabulary. Nyenhuis provides a long introduction.
    Delz, J., Review of J.P. Sullivan, The Satyricon of Petronius: A Literary Study (London: Faber, 1968): Gnomon 42 (1970) 31-36. "Trotz allem Widerspruch im einzelnen muss der Rez. betonen, dass das frisch geschriebene Buch viel Gutes enthält. Der Spezialist findet ausser der Psychoanalyse freilich nichts eigentlich Neues, aber die Auswahl aus der Petronforschung ist mit grossem Geschick getroffen" (p. 36).
    Deman, R., C. Petronius Arbiter. Cena Trimalchionis (Anvers, Belgium: De Sikkel, 1969) 36 p., 8 plates, 46 FB.
    Díaz y Díaz, M.G., Satiricon. 2 vols. Colección Hispánica de Autores Griegos y Latinos (Barcelona: Ediciones Alma Mater, 1968-1969). Texto revisado y traducido. Prof. Díaz provides a major contribution to Petronian studies with his 2 volume text and Spanish translation. There is a long introduction on the MSS and a review of major editions; all of the fragments attributed to Petronius are included. Spanish notes are added to the translation.

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    Dobroiu, E., "Artifices phoniques employés par les écrivains romains pour suggérer certaines particularités de prononciation," Analele Universitatii Bucuresti 17 (1968) 443-448. An analysis of the sounds of the words of Trimalchio shows Petronius' artistry in portraying the old man.
    Dobroiu, E., "Allusions à l'empereur Tibere dans le Satiricon," Analele Universitatii Bucuresti 18 (1969) 17-45. A careful search through the Satyricon to discover allusions to Tiberius and a dramatic date of the novel.
    Dobroiu, E., "Pour une édition du Satiricon III série," Studii Clasice 12 (1970) 79-93. Read: 31.1 non licebat multifariam considerare; 45.11 alter burdubastax, alter loripes; 60.4 dum haec apophoreta iubemur sumere, respicimus ad mensam; 62.4 homo meus coepit ad stelas facere. Sed ego cantabundus stellas numero; 64.6 panemque semesum ponebat supra torum.
    Giancotti, F., Mimo e gnome. Studio su Decimo Laberio e Publilio Siro (G. d'Anna: Messina-Firenze, 1967). In part I, Chapter 8, "Publilio in Petronio?," 231-74, Giancotti considers aspects of the verses that Trimalchio attributes to Publi<li>us <Syrus?>. G. gives the substance of several views on Petronius' motivation for the comparison of Gicero and Publi<li>us <Syrus>. The consensus seems to be that it is intended as an example of Trimalchio's ignorance: "une inepte comparaison " (Collignon, pp. 286-87) ."In conclusione, mi pare che si possa affermare che dal confronto tra el linguaggio delle sentenze publiane e quello del frammento controverso non emerga una prova sicura contro l' attribuzione del frammento a Publilio" (251-52). Other considerations, however, lead him to speculate eventually on the possibility of attributing the verses to Laberius. (Sandy)
    Gonzalez-Haba, M., "Petron 38 .9 est tamen subalapa," Glotta 47 (1969) 253-264. A study of the origins and meanings of alapa/subalapa.
    Huxley, H.H., " 'Marked Literary Inferiority' in the Poems of the Satyricon," CJ 66 (1970) 69-70. Written in opposition to Sochatoff's article in CJ 65 (1970) 340-344.
    Mulroy, D., "Petronius 81.3", CP 65 (1970) 254-256. Mulroy argues that there is no conclusive proof in the Satyricon that Encolpius committed murder. His confessions can be understood figuratively to support impotence as his crime.
    Panagl, Oswald, "Textkritische Bemerkungen zu Petron 27.4," WS 83 (1970) 152-155.
    Raith, O., "Veri doctus Epicurus," WS 83 (1970) 138-151. The poem at Satyricon 132.15 is treated as a serious exposition of Petronian sentiment. Raith suggests, against Müller, that line 7 of 132.15 read: ipse pater veri doctus Epicurus in arte.
    Rankin, H.D., "Petronius, a Portrait of the Artist," SO 45 (1970) 118-l28. A study of the duality of Petronius, both courtier arid artist. Rankin looks at the evidence of Petronius' life and then tries to paint a portrait of the artist.
    Schmeling, G., "Trimalchio's Menu and Wine List," GP 65 (1970) 248 -251. Though Trimalchio provided his guests with numerous kinds of food, most are found to be quite common and do not bear our Trimalchio's boasts.
    Slusanski, D., "Le vocabulaire de la critique littéraire et le language des personnages illettrés de la Cena Trimalchionis," Studii Clasice12 (1970) 95-104. Each character in the Satyricon uses language appropriate to his station in life.
    Sochatoff, A. Fred, "Imagery in the Poems of the Satyricon," CJ 65 (1970) 340-344. An analysis of certain poems in the Satyricon shows that Petronius "with clear eyes and eloquent voice called attention to the inner decay which was sapping away her (Rome's) greatness."
    Sullivan, J.P., "Textual Notes on Petronius," CQ 64 (1970) 188-190. In 2.3 read: deberet; in 7.3 read: video quosdam inter vetulas nudasque meretrices furtim spatiantes; in 38.10 read: itaque proxime cenaculum hoc titulo proscripsit; in 38.12 read: liberti sceleratique omnia ad se fecerunt; in 40.5 read: [qui altilia laceraverat ]; in 73.2,5 read: balneum intravimus [angustum scilicet et cisternae frigidariae simile] in quo Trimalchio rectus stabat... nos, dum illi ludos faciunt, in solium [quod Trimalchioni pervapatur] descendimus; in 112.2 read: ne hanc quidem partem corporis mulier abstinuit; in 118.3 read: ceterum neque generosior spiritus inanitatem amat.
    Treloar, A., "Animae ebullitio, " Glotta 47 (1969) 264-265. The expression indicates a painful death
    Walsh, P.G., The Roman Novel. The Satyicon of Petronius and the Metamophoses of Apuleius Cambridge, 1970 272p., $11.50. Review will appear in next Newsletter.

NACHLEBEN

    ITALY. Fellini, F., Fellini's Satyricon (New York: Ballantine Books, 1970). $3.95, paperback. The book consists of interviews with Fellini on his concept of the Satyricon, including an interesting account of his visit to E. Paratore's home for consultation, details of production, script of the movie and photographs. (G. Sandy)
    Fellini, F., "Pictorial Essay of the Satyricon," Playboy (May 1970) 105-111; 210.
    Highet, G., "Whose Satyricon - Petronius's or Fellini's?" Horizon 12 (1970) 42-47.
    Lebouc, G., "Fellini-Satyricon," La pensee et les Hommes 13.11 (April 1970) 360-362. This review was sent to the Petronian Society by Mr. Guy Cambier.
    Finborough, Roger, "Son of Satyricon," Penthouse (June 1970) 77-81. Review of Polidoro's movie called Satyricon.
    Culkin, J.M. and Haskell, M., "Both Sides Now. Pro and Con Reviews of Important Films : Fellini's Satyricon," Show 1.4 (April 1970) 20-21.
    Ribald Classics (Chicago: Playboy Press, 1966). In this collection of short stories are two which purportedly come from the Satyricon: "Unquestionably, a Man of Wits," pp. 5-7; "The orator's Triumph," pp. 150-152.
    Baldwin, R., Review of FELLINI-SATYRICON: "The first Jungian movie" (TIME: March 16th, 1970); "There is no evidence that Fellini is particularly interested in the problem of moral depravity in ancient Rome" (Vincent Canby, New York Times); "A science fiction film projected into the past"(Fellini); "A major cinematic achievement" (Movie-theatre blurb). The film contains much Petronius, but is rarely Petronian. The scenes are colourful, the tempo monochrome. The point is made in the first five minutes, and the remaining two hours are repetitious embellishment. Fellini is victim of the recurrent delusion that art is the concealment of plot. He presents a series of moving mosaics. We see the spirit of Bosch, but end by muttering "bosh". It is La Dolce Vita in togas, except that Fellini has at last realized that the upper classes have no monopoly on decadence. The approach is determinedly trendy. Fellini's Rome is interchangeable with Antonioni's America (Zabriskie Point) or London (Blow-up: the scene where Encolpius and Ascyltos romp with the teeny-bopper slave girl strikes one as a reverse of David Hemmings (the inevitable artist without a soul) sporting with the two nymphets in "Swinging London"). The dichotomies are patent and shop-worn: luxury-death (has Fellini been reading Arrowsmith?), wealth-poverty, gluttony- starvation, beauty-deformity, homo-hetero. The most Petronian ingredient conspicuous by its absence is humour. There are two or three good visual jokes: the Minotaur-gladiator sparrng Encolpius because he is a student (perhaps a parable on the professor-student relationship?); Encolpius recovering his potency with a more than ample Magna Mater; the fire between the bridge of Oenothea's thighs. But the slapstick elements of Trimalchio's banquet are excised, and black is clearly the most important colour in Fellini's spectrum. Trimalchio is played like an Al Capone presiding over the gang revels, and the entire sequence is hurried over. The incoherence of the film gives the effect of a visual Lewis and Reinhold. We have collapsing insulae (Juvenal), the Festival of Laughter (Apuleius?), a sinister little emperor (Elagabalus?), an aristocrat cutting his wrists (Tacitus on the death of Petronius?), and so on. The sound track crackles with fragments of Latin ( "Felici ter Gaio" and "Madeia, Perimadeia" can be heard) and a variety of Italian dialects. The soft, pliant Giton (who would have done well on Times Square at midnight) is constantly contrasted with the sagging women and pathetic cripples. The quality of acting is hardly relevant, since, in Fellini's words, "Faces are my words," and the humans are intended as types and pawns of nature and the world. Were I not a classicist, I would have shared the obvious boredom of the audience on the night I was there. Like Encolpius in the original, I would constantly have had to appeal to my neighbour for exegesis. The film is an arty, in-group affair; it appeals to the fake culture of a snobbish pseudo-elite, the very thing Petronius detested (I take the view that Trimalchio, if not a sympathetic figure, is meant by Petronius to be no worse for all his muddled erudition than the sneering free-loaders at his table). I don't blame Fellini on principle for inserting non-Petronian material (he carries on the episode of the beneficiaries eating the body of their benefactor, in an effective

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scene of espirit de corpse), and he goes no further than claiming his film is a free adaptation " of the original ( the title, and the credits, are honest about that). But incoherence is never an artistic virtue, and repetition is the mark of a primitive, not a sophisticated culture. I came out of the cinema feeling that when you had seen all of his scenes, you had seen one. (N.B.: the movie-theatre blurb advertises the film as "Rome before Christ, after Fellini". Devotees of the dating question, please note!)
Sandy, G. Review of Fellini's Satyricon. There are two things that Petronius's Satyricon is not: ponderous and boring. Fellini's adaption is both. The genesis of this disappointing movie will partially explain the causes of its failure. The film is an incongrous pastiche of Petronius and Apuleius' Metamorphoses, with a little Juvenal, Tacitus, Suetonius, Plautus and Catullus thrown in, belying Fellini' s claim, "In the film everything is invented: faces, gestures, situations, surroundings, objects. To obtain this result I have entrusted myself to the inflamed and impassioned dimension of imagination" (quoted from Fellini'sSatyricon, ed. D. Zanelli, trans. E. Walter and J. Matthews [New York, 1970], p.26). Early in the movie, the actor Vernaccio, who has won Giton from Ascyltus in a "crap game," engages in a kind of flagitatio with two other actors, which is reminiscent of the abusive name-calling in Plautus' Pseudolus. A little later, Encolpius and Giton make their way through a brothel to a garret on one of the upper stories of an insula. Their tenement, like those in Juvenal's third satire, is inadequately propped up and co1lapses in a cloud of dust. After departing from Trimalchio's banquet, Encolpius is taken by force to Lichas' ship, where Ascyltus (who sneers throughout the movie) and Giton are already imprisoned. Lichas is one of the Emperor's henchmen, fetching wares and amusements, especially freakish captives, for him to enjoy as he lives, a recluse, on an island. The details are clearly taken from Tacitus' exaggerated account of Tiberius' voluntary exile on Capri and his supposedly perverted entertainments there. Juvenal, too, contributes to episodes aboard Lichas's ship. Lichas is represented as a muscle-bound catamite, like the Gracchus in Juvenal's second satire who becomes a bride as well as a contestant in the arena. Like Gracchus, Lichas dons the bridal flammeum for his "marriage " to Encolpius. The Emperor, for some inexplicable reason an albino, is assasinated and an officer, suspiciously resembling Charleston Heston, announces the accession of a new Caesar. The occasion calls for a triumph, which includes carmina triumphalia, suggested, probably by Suetonius' life of Caesar. Apuleius' Metamorphoses contributes a great deal to later scenes. Encolpius'encounter in a labyrinth with the Minotaur and his unsuccessful efforts to fornicate publicly with Ariadne both derive from Apuleius, as does Ascyltus' "delayed" death, which is based on that of Socrates (Meta. 1.19). The sorceress Oenothea owes a lot to Meroe in Apuleius (note the specious etymology of the names). (The episode involving Oenothea and a wizard and its aftermath are based largely on a legend about the medieval Vergil; see D. Comparetti, Vergil in the Middle Ages, 326-7.) I have discussed in detail some of the interpolations in the movie in order to illustrate the director's uncritical, insenitive gleaning of trite instances of the sensational and the brutal. Now Petronius' Satyricon is highly allusive but not for the same reasons as Fellini's version, and this is why the movie fails to recapture the spirit of Petronius. I believe that Philip B. Corbett has correctly described the attitude pervading the original, "The most striking features of Petronius' work are its good humor and tolerance. They strike a false note in an age of extreme cruelty and oppression." Compare with this outlook Fellini's impression of the Roman world, "Horace himself would be a fascinating figure to portray, the hoary poet in exile, half-blind, his face disfigured by a granuloma in the eye. And then that cruel, degenerate and crazy Roman world described by Suetonius in his lives of the twelve Caesars" (Fellini's Satyricon, p. 45) .The statement is notable not so much for its inaccuracy as for its indication of a muddled, grade-B-movie mentality: it ignores Horace's restrained joie devivre and good taste,

stressing instead a hackneyed picture of Roman decadence and brutality. In the same way, the movie is replete with Juvenalin heavy-handedness and devoid of Petronian subtlety, good humor and tolerance. The published version of Fellini' s Satyricon, from which I quoted earlier, contains in a prefatory chapter an account of his visit to Ettore Paratore's home for consultation! "Encolpius is the only character who is never vulgar," he [Paratore] said. He spoke of the supreme elegance of Petronius' language... I noticed how Fellini was subdued, like schoolboy (P. 35). One can readily imagine how saddened the great Italian scholar must be if he has seen the movie, as, I believe, as any Petronian zealot is bound to be when cheated of the Arbiter's "supreme elegance."

WORK IN PROGRESS

    Carleton, S., The Petronian Tradition in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages (Diss. University of Texas, 1971)
    Moreland, F., Theme and Technique in Petronius' Satyricon (Diss. Berkeley, 1971).
    Rankin, H.D., Petronius the Artist. Essays on the Satyricon and its Author. (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1971).
    Richardson, T.W., Studies in the Text of Petronius (Diss.Harvard, 1971) .
    Rose, K.F.C., The Date and Author of the Satyricon (Mnemosyne Supplementband, 1971). Reworked Oxford (1962) dissertation. Work completed by J.P. Sullivan after Rose's death in 1967.
    Scobie, A., A Commentary on Apuleius' Metamorphoses. This will contain discussions of problems common to both Apuleius and Petronius, e.g. folklore, narrative technique. The commentary on Met. I- III is likely to be completed by the end of 1972.
    Sochatoff, A. Fred, an examination of the commentaries written on the Satyricon prior to 1600.

SHORT SCHOLARLY NOTES

Baldwin, B.
"Capping the Boar".

The appearance of an aper pilleatus (Satyricon 40) puzzled Encolpius, who turned for elucidation to his neighbour. The latter, always ready to impress a naive guest, had a pat answer: Hic aper, cum heri summa cena eum vindicasset a convivis dimissus est. itaque hodie tanquam libertus in convivium revertitur (Sat. 41).This explanation satisfied Encolpius. Perhaps rightly, since the scene was now set for Trimalchio's freeing of the slave Dionysus and the puns on Liber and liber. There may, however, have been a little more to the joke. The symbolic touch of the pilleus is familiar, but a passage from Aulus Gellius may impart a richer flavour:Pilleatos servos venum solitos ire, quorum nomine venditor nihil praestaret (NA, 6.4.1.). Gellius' gem of information derived from the jurist Caelius Sabinus) is appropriate to Trimalchio's table, where items of food and drink are not always what they seem to be. The trick pavonina ova (Sat. 33), the implausible Opimian wine (Sat. 34), and the farce of the ungutted pig (Sat. 49) are good examples. Our aper pilleatus also proved deceptive, when he turned out to be a container for live thrushes. It may also be to the point that Encolpius later affects disgust at the memory of ova anserina pilleata (Sat. 65); this contrasts with the apparent pleasure of Habinnas over the ova pilleata served at a funeral feast (Sat. 66) .The aper pilleatus could also be taken as a logical pendant to the earlier reference by Encolpius' informant to the apros gausapatos beloved of a libitinarius (Sat. 38) .The aper pilleatus may, then, symbolize the constant and not always pleasant element of surprise at a Trimalchio banquet. This was later to be a notable feature of the dinner parties of Elagabalus, if the SHA can be trusted. Finally, although Petronius did not live to see it, one is irresistibly reminded that the death of Nero was celebrated by plebs pilleata tota urbe (Suetonius, Nero 57). The death of the emperor had incalculable consequences, and the Arbiter would have relished yet again the deceptive connection between pilleus and liberty.

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Verdière, Raoul,
"Note sur petrone 19.3: ut haec dixit Qu- artilla; Ascyltos quidem obstupuit, ego autem frigidior hieme Gallica factus nullum potui verbum emittere."

Ces propos suivent ceux tenus par Quartilla disant qu'elle attend d'Encolpe, d'Ascylte et de Giton qu'ils lui administrent "le remède contre la fièvre tierce", remedium tertianae. Le contexte est si clair qu'il est inutile de préciser l'allusion obscene contenue dans cette dernière expression. Ce qui est plus intéressant, c'est l'attitude d'Encolpe que ses habitudes pédérastiques n'inclinent guère à fournir le remède sollicité. On le voit donc devenu "babilan", comme eût dit Stendhal. C'est si vrai qu'un peu plus loin (20.2) Encolpe insiste à nouveau, mais d'une manière plus clair, sur son état dépourvu de gloire: sollicitavit inguina mea mille iam mortibus frigida. Je n'entreprendrai pas de relever ici tous les textes parallèles a l'expression frigidior hieme Gallica. Un très petit nombre d'entre eux figure chez A. Otto (1), mais on les trouvera en compagnie de bien d'autres dans le commentaire si copieux de P. Burman (2). Il en ressort, selon Barth cité par Burman, que l'expression est proverbiale. Et il est de fait que les textes cités donnent à le croire. Parmi ceux-ci je n'ai pas trouvé un vers de Philodème decrivant l'etat d' âme d'un amoureux (3):

(l'âme glacée par les neiges celtiques), que je livre, sans plus tarder, a la sagacité des futurs commentateurs du Satiricon. Ce parallèle ne figure pas, et pour cause, parmi ceux que O. Raith a établis avec un soin jaloux entre

de Philodème et le Satiricon (4). Il est possible que ce nouveau parallèle "apporte de l'eau au moulin" d'O. Raith qui voit en Pétrone un épicurien. En tout cas, pastichant une phrase qui traduit l'honnêteté scientifique du jeune savant allemand (5), j'écrirais volontiers: "Die Parallele zwischen Philodem und Petronius ist so eindeutlig, wie man sie sich wünschte". Et de fait, si l'âne est visée chez Philodème et si c'est le corps qui l'est dans sa fonction sexuelle chez Pétrone, il reste que le Grec comme le Latin ont traité de l'amour. Au demeurant, et pour en terminer sur ce point, je précise que j'ai été mis sur la piste de parallèle par K. Kleve (6) qui établit une relation, indéniable selon moi, entre un passage de Lucrèrce (R. N. 4. 1058-60), haec Venus est nobis, hinc autemst nomen amoris, /hinc illaec primum Veneris dulcedinis in cor/ stillavit gutta, et successit frigida cura/, et le vers de Philodème.

NOTES: (1) Cf. Die Sprichwörter und sprichwörtlichen

Redensaerten der Römer, 2nd ed., Hildesheim, 1962, p. 59, s.u. bruma. (2) Cf. Titi Petronii Arbitri Satiricôn quae supersunt 2^nd ed., I, Amsterdam, 1733, p. 91. (3) Cf. Epigr. 8.4 (p. XII, Kaibel = Anthologia Palatina 10.2l). (4) Cf. Petronius, Ein Epikureer, Nürnberg, 1963, pp. 20-3 (Erlanger Beiträge zur Sprach- und Kunstwissenschaft, Bd. 14). (5) op. cit., p.23: "Die Parallelen zwischen Philodem und Theophrast einerseits und Petronius andererseits sind nicht so eindeutig, wie man sie sich wüinschte". (6) Cf. "'Lucrèce, l'épicurisme et l'amour" dans Association Guillaume Budé Actes du VIII Congrès, Paris, 5-10 avril 1968, Paris, 1969, p. 378. Cette communication de meme que certains aperçus de la thèse de P.H. Schrijvers, Horror ac divina voluptas, Etudes sur la poétique et la poésie de Lucrece, Amsterdam, 1970, pp. 133-4 comblent heureusement une lacune dans les commentaires de A. Ernout-L. Hobin et de C. Bailey.

NOTICES

W. Ehlers, Director of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, has in a letter dated 27.l.l970 sent the following notice: "In jedem Fall möchte ich die Mitglieder schon heute einladen, im Bedarfsfall Auskünfte aus unserem Zettelarchiv einzuholen, die wir interessierten Fachleuten immer gern erteilen."
On 29 December 1970, in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Philological Association in New York there was a special session of the Petronian Society. Five papers were read: Georg Luck, "Petronius' Bellum Civile -A Parody?"; J..P. Sullivan, "Problems of Editing Petronius "; Gerald Sandy, "Petronius and the Tradition of the Interpolated Narrative"; Froma Zeitlin, "Petronius Romanus: Troiae Halosis and Bellum Civil"; Edward Barnes, "An Oriental Stylistic Element-as Part of Petronius' Purpose in Delineating the Character Oenothea". About ninety persons attended the session and it was agreed to try to hold another meeting next December.
From the Rivista di Studi Classici l8 (1970) l67: "Ha avuto il suo epilgo il XXI Concorso Internazionale di prosa latina (Certamen Capitolinum) bandito dall' Instituto di Studi Romani lo scorso anno. Il primo premio è stato assegnato al prof. Tebaldo Fabbri di Forli per la composizione 'Petronius Arbiter adest.'"

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