The Hidden Author

Petronius's Satyricon is famous today primarily for the amazing banquet tale, "Trimalchio's Feast," also celebrated in Fellini's film, Satyricon. But this episode is only one part of the larger picture offered by the work. In The Hidden Author, Professor Conte starts with the structure of the work as a whole, inviting the reader to appreciate the elements of irony and fantasy woven into the text. The author has hidden himself with the aim of striking at the vanity of the contemporary cultured scene, handing over his stage to his characters, who are living in various sorts of degradation, but…