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->“The disgusting indecencies of which the remains of Petronius are full ... give him so bad a name, that he who confesses an intimate acquaintance with the poem, and expresses gratification with it, exposes himself to a severe judgement, and affords a good opportunity for the display of sanctimonious hypocrisy."
-->--Barthold Georg Niebuhr

->"It sounds like a cross between ''Literature/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'' and a gay porno parody of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''."
-->--jumpingjacktrash

''The Satyricon'' (or ''Satyrica'') is a work of fiction that is generally attributed to Gaius Petronius Arbiter, one of UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}'s courtiers. It follows the criminal misadventures of three vagabonds: young Roman citizen [[{{Narrator}} Encolpius]], his [[UnequalPairing teenage slave and catamite]] [[LoverAndBeloved Giton]], and his friend (and sometimes rival for the favours of Giton) Asciltos; as they [[WalkingTheEarth wander the earth]]; getting into all kinds of bizarre situations, often sexual in nature, and running afoul of the law. Only fragments of The Satryicon survive, so the plot is incomplete. Scholars believe that Encolpius is forced to wander the earth after offending Priapus--a Roman fertility god--or possibly that he was ritually expelled from his home city to prevent a plague. From there, the fragmented narrative follows the trio's escapades before ending abruptly.

While ''The Satyricon'' is infamous for its [[ValuesDissonance grotesque sexual content]], it does have literary merit. It is a satire of the Neronian court, a possible early example of the novel, and an insight into the lives of ordinary Romans and its class structure (if one can read past the satirical-cum-pornographic elements that make up the bulk of the story).

While most Latin text are serious works of oratory or poetry, The Satyricon provides a rarer example of a comic narrative about low-brow subjects. Despite its sordid reputation, The Satyricon has inspired many famous authors. Creator/FScottFitzgerald references The Satyricon in Literature/TheGreatGatsby, and originally planned to name it "Trimalchio in West Egg", after a character. It is also referenced in Literature/TheWasteLand, and Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray.

In 1969 it was adapted into a fittingly surreal film by Creator/FedericoFellini, titled ''Film/FelliniSatyricon''.
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!! Tropes in the work include:

* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: Lots. [[{{Squick}} Although it is usually very unsexy.]]
* TheLoinsSleepTonight: Encolpius has this problem at one point.
* NouveauRiche: Trimalchio is a wealthy freedman who spends his money on ridiculous extravagance, like [[PurpleIsPowerful purple napkins]] and elaborate mosaics of himself.
* WalkingTheEarth: The main trio spend the book wandering around Rome, possibly after Encolpius angered the god Priapus, or because Encolpius was ritually expelled from his home city.