Trimalchio's Hellish Bath

Author(s): Rick M. Newton

Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 77, No. 4 (Apr. - May, 1982), pp. 315-319
Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Inc. (CAMWS)
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3297008
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 TRIMALCHIO'S HELLISH BATH

In keeping with the genre of Menippean Satire, Petronius' Sa

replete with allusions to a variety of literary sources.1 In the Cen
chionis alone, references have been detected to, among others, Pla
Vergil, and Seneca.2 Petronius sprinkles these allusions throughout
as it were, thereby seasoning the often coarse humor of his narrative
of literary sophistication. These morsels would have titillated the
Nero and his friends, who apparently enjoyed reading allusions to
serious literature into the mundane and even criminal events of their d
The purpose of this paper is to study one episode in the Cena in whi
to a literary source are not sprinkled but, rather, concentrate
examination reveals that, in sustaining the allusions, the author is s
stage for an urbane joke which the better-educated members of h
would have enjoyed.

In Sat. 72 Trimalchio has reduced the entire household to tears by r

will and ordering his tomb from Habinnas. While the guests are wa
they had been invited to a funeral (tamquam in funus rogata), Tri
suddenly invites them to join him in a bath which is "as hot as a fu
calet tamquam furnus). In the events which immediately follow, P
includes two references to Vergil, Aeneid 6. Encolpius and his frie
this opportunity to try to escape from Trimalchio's house, but at the
are thwarted by a chained dog, whose barking frightens Ascyltus in
Encolpius himself is dragged into the water while trying to save h
Giton, meanwhile, diverts the hound by tossing it some table scrap
had taken from the dining room. Once past the dog, however, they
again, this time by the porter who tells them, "You are mistaken if

1For literary allusion as an important ingredient in Menippean Satire, see E. Court

and Literary Allusion in Menippean Satire," Philologus 106 (1962) 86-100.
2Among the more salient passages of Petronius' literary allusions are Sat. 65.6
Symp. 212 c-e), Sat. 54.1-5 (cf. Hor. Sat. 2.8. 54-56), Sat. 39.3 (cf. Verg. Aen. 2
71.1-3 (cf. Sen. Ep. 47.1-3). For a discussion of the literary sources, see J. P.
Satyricon ofPetronius: A Literary Study (Bloomington and London 1968) 125-39. S
allusions are individually studied in Averil Cameron, "Petronius and Plato," CQ
367-70; L.R. Shero, "The 'Cena' in Roman Satire," CP 18 (1923) 126-43; W. J. O
and Petronius: The Underworld," CB 52 (1976) 33-34.
3Cf. Suet. Nero 22.1: Nero compares the dragging of a charioteer by his horses to
Hector. Cf. also the emperor's donning dramatic costume and singing of the fall of
Rome's great fire of 64 (Nero 38.2). Suetonius also comments (Nero 39.1-3) on
tolerance of Greek and Latin lampoons which likened him to Alcmaeon and Orest
all), Aeneas (" sustulit hic matrem, sustulit ille patrem "), and even the lyre-playing
even had a trained lion with which he could wrestle and thus imitate the deeds of H
53).

315

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316 RICK M. NEWTON

you can exit by the door through which you e

sent out through the same door. They enter b
intrant, alia exeunt). Within the funerary con
preceding scenes, it is probable that Petronius i
of Aeneas in the underworld. Specifically,
recalls the Sibyl's drugging of Cerberus with
The porter's mention of the doors, furthermo
Aeneas encounters at the exit from the und
Petronius guarantees that we detect the allu
having Encolpius comment at this point, "W
trapped in this new style labyrinth?" (novi
73.1). The mention of the labyrinth possi
Daedalus in the "inextricabilis error" of the C
6.14-41. But even if no Vergilian reminiscenc
itself conjures up thoughts of tombs and ancie
Pliny, for example, describes the tomb of th
contained a " labyrinthus inextricabilis, quo si
exitum invenire nequeat.'"5 Symbolic of the t
plays that feature of Hades so eloquently des
descensus Averno: / noctes atque dies patet a
gradum superasque evadere ad auras, / hic
29). Indeed, the careful reader may have susp
chio's house is actually a labyrinthine Hades.
the entrance to the house, he noticed the str
"Quisquis servus sine dominico iussu foras
(28.7). We detect in this inscription at least t
house, like Hades, may offer obstacles to thos
tion is now brought to the fore, as Encolpius
the invitation to the bath.'

4These allustions have been detected by Averil Camer

Some Modern Comparisons," Latomus 29 (1970) 405, who
ing the surface humor. For discussions of the death-them
Satyricon, cf. W. Arrowsmith, "Luxury and Death in t
H. H. Bacon, "The Sibyl in the Bottle," Virginia Qua
5Pliny, H. N. 36.91-93. Pliny also records in H. N. 36.84-
may have served as the tomb of Moeris.
6It is interesting to note in this context that G. Bagnan
(1954) 16-39, finds similarities between the decorations i
rial contests and scenes from his own life) and representa
several points of resemblance between Trimalchio's ho
Habinnas: both contain clocks (horologium: 26.9, 71. 11),
platform (tribunal: 29.5, 71.9), sealed wine jars (amph
amphorae (70.4-5, 71.11).
7It is probable that the events leading up to the bath-sce
adventures upon entering the house: on his way in, Encolpiu
chained dog (canis ingens, catena vinctus, 29. 1; cf. cani
legs in falling on his back.

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 TRIMALCHIO'S HELLISH BATH 317

After establishing the hellish nature of Trimalchio's

tinues to build on these allusions. Frustrated in their es
and his comrades enter the bath, where their drunke
acoustics of the room, proceeds to gape at the ceiling an
Menecrates." This experience is sheer torture for Enc
performance "a most disgusting display" (putidissim
which they could not escape. Driving home the suggest
torturous for the guests is Trimalchio's own announcem
used to be a mill: dicebat . . . eo ipso loco aliquando pi
This bit of information would surely have been unsett
guests, for it would recall their days of slavery, when
synonymous with torture and punishment.8 To the a
acoustical torture, some guests join hands and, with a l
around the edge of the bath. Others, their hands bound be
pick up rings from the floor or kneel backwards and try
toes.9
To the reader who keeps the other Vergilian allusions
scene will recall another passage from the Aeneid. As
Elysian Fields, he witnesses the afterlife of the heroi

Some were exercising their limbs on the grassy wr

contending in sport and struggling on the yellow
dancing and singing songs. There too was the Thr
pheus] in his long robe, accompanying their rhythm wi
notes, striking the same notes now on his fingers, no
Here was the ancient brood of Teucer, the finest of
hearted heroes, born in better times, and Ilus and Ass
founder of Troy. From afar Aeneas admired the men's
chariots. Their spears stood fixed in the ground, and t
grazed freely throughout the plains. Whatever delig
alive in chariots and arms, whatever delight they to
gleaming steeds, the same delight follows them now
earth. And there on his right and left throughout th
feasting and singing a joyous hymn in a choir, in th
fragrant with laurel, from which source the abunda
Eridanus rolls through the forest to the upper world
(Aen. 6.642-59).
8For threats of punishment of wicked slaves in the mill, cf. Pl. Mos
actutum tradier; Bacch. 4.6. 11: ferratusque in pistrino aetatem co
"pistrinorum civitas" in Pers. 3.3.16.
9It is also possible that Nero himself is alluded to here. Fanatic abo
refused to allow anyone to leave during his performances. Suet. N
would even give birth in the theatre and that men would feign death so
for burial. Also striking is the similarity with Suet. Nero 27.2: E
noctem protrahebat, refotus saepius calidis piscinis. For the si
Trimalchio, cf. R. H. Crum, "Petronius and the Emperors, I: Allus
(1952) 161-67 and Sullivan (supra, note 2) 49. This is not to argue
Petronius. Rather, the emperor, tolerant of casual criticism and even
his own life, would have found such similarities amusing.

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318 RICK M. NEWTON

If Petronius intends that the scene in Tr

of the Elysian Fields, the already existing
dimension of comic inversion and incongr
sort of anti-Aeneas, the singing Trima
collective guests a poor substitute for the h
lives for their country.10
It is in the mock-punishment of the guests
of humor. For the strenuous attempt to pic
behind their backs can be viewed as sym
entire lives doing. Throughout the Cena
phasis on rings. As in the Empire in gener
his guests are indicative of not only their
When Trimalchio first enters the dining
star-studded iron ring which appeared to
meros challenges Giton: "Do you think
rings, which you stole from your sweeth
borrow some money: then you will know w
also be recalled that Trimalchio has rec
funerary statue wearing five gold rings (
using their teeth in order to pick up the ri
was said earlier about the recently-deceas
penny and was prepared to pick up one-four
teeth" (43.1). Since Trimalchio's guests
accumulation of wealth and the acquisitio
ment" in this mock-underworld is just as fit
souls of the heroes in Elysium.12
It is possible, of course, to find Trimalch
an awareness of the Vergilian allusions
torturing his guests by singing in the b
laughter from any reader. But the learn
pleasure on a higher level.13 For the "Arb

'00n the parallel between Aeneas and Encolpius: it i

Priapus' hounding of Encolpius (gravis ira Priapi,
Odysseus and Juno's persecution of Aeneas. Cf.
Satirae," Philologus 47 (1889) 623-35.
"For the wearing of rings in the Empire and their
Sat. 32.3 in M. S. Smith, ed., Petronii Arbitri Cen
'2Just as the heroes in Elysium spend their afterlif
the wicked in Tartarus suffer punishments which re
allegorical interpretation of the punishments, cf. L
on Aen. 6.596: Tityus, guilty of a crime of lust, is st
far and wide (significat ... libidinem late patere); th
insatiability of lust (etenim libidini non satis fit
Similarly, Sisyphus' rolling of the rock is reflective
volvunt ambitum vult ... significari). Ixion's punishm
semper tempestatibus turbinibusque volvuntur.'"
13This "elitist humor" is at work also in 50.5 and 5
Greek mythology and Roman history are humoro

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 TRIMALCHIO'S HELLISH BATH 319

highly-educated aristocratic elite. The reader or listener

clever joke will feel not only amused but also personally f
good company with the other "elegantes" of the royal c

RICK M. NEWTON
Kent State University

history. It is significant that Encolpius, himself ignorant of such topics, does not comment o
Trimalchio's errors or find any humor in them.

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