#just dissertation things

[acertainidontknowwhat]

During the cena, the actuarius, “account-keeper”, reads out the acta beginning with the date: “seven days before the kalends of August” (VII. Kalendas Sextiles, 53.2 - July 26th). The month of Sextilis had been renamed Augustus in 8 BCE, and so its usage here is odd.

Is Trimalchio here attempting to sound Republican? Perhaps he is expressing a sense of nostalgia as it concerns his public image. Since the acta is imitative of a public announcement, then, it makes sense that Trimalchio would wish to represent himself in a way that shows traditional republican values

In this way, we see Trimalchio imitating the very figure he erases by making this change. What I mean by this is that the change leads to Augustus being removed from the Roman calendar.

The simple act of using Sextilis instead of Augustus signals to the reader what is missing and there is no mistaking that it is a reference to the Augustus since it was for him specifically the month was renamed. This is one of the many occurrences during the dinner of a charged absence.

[skeletordidntdieforthis]

To any of my followers in the U.S.

I recently started on my dissertation and I need some help gathering info. I'm writing about urban legends in North America. This includes a section about Native American lore that has been (for lack of a better term right now) white washed or colonized. So if anyone can reply to this with an urban legend, I would greatly appreciate it. Even if it's super niche. I got to fill 35 pages and I need everything I can get!

P.S. This absolutely includes cryptids because my boys Mothman and Bigfoot deserve to be explored academically

[acertainidontknowwhat]

We can see performance in the Cena as ritual given the fact that Trimalchio’s dinner was an oft-repeated event. Based on internal evidence, we know that those in attendance (aside from Encolpius and his friends) have seen the show before, perhaps multiple times. Also, the dining room itself is characterized as a sacred space as it must be entered right foot first (an enslaved member of the household stands by the dining-room door and reminds everyone to enter in a religiously respectable manner). Everything that takes place during the dinner, therefore, can be characterized as an imitation of ritual.

On a similar note, most argue that the performance ends when Trimalchio's wife, Fortunata, calls Trimalchio canis, "a dog", after he kisses one of the enslaved boys. Encolpius tells us that it was at this moment that the good nature of the dinner ended, but that does not necessarily mean the performance stopped, only that the tone of the performance shifted. The mood quickly becomes tragic as tears begin to flow: Fortunata cries, Trimalchio cries, and even Scintilla and Habinnas cry. The change in mood leads to Trimalchio's extended speech which doubles as an autobiography and ultimately his mock funeral. It seems unlikely that the mock funeral would have been introduced without the major shift in tone.

[acertainidontknowwhat]

Tom Sapsford’s argument in his book, Performing the Kinaidos, concerning the cinaedus and his ability to mimic perhaps can shed light on Octavian’s actions in two instances in Appian’s Civil Wars. During the Perusine War when approaching Lucius Antonius and then again in Book V upon meeting Antony, Octavian exactly imitates (ἀντεμιμεῖτο) the two men. This form of μιμέομαι with the prefix α’ντι- only appears in these two examples in Appian perhaps emphasizing the precision of Octavian’s imitation.

For Octavian/Augustus as cinaedus, Suet. Aug. 68: “But also on a certain day of games all the people saw as directed against him, and with great approval applauded, a line said on the stage about a priest of the mother of the gods playing a timbrel, “Do you see how a cinaedus governs the world with a finger?”

[acertainidontknowwhat]

According to Suetonius 53.1, Augustus did not like being called dominus going so far as to pass an edict reproaching the public for hailing him as such. He even forbade his family members to jokingly refer to him as dominus.

Petronius’ Trimalcho is never addressed as dominus. The enslaved members of his familia refer to him by his praenomen, Gaius, thereby advertising Trimalchio’s performative modesty.

[acertainidontknowwhat]

Pure speculation, but Roman authors seem to employ Priapus as a metaphorical figure through which they can play with the idea of manufacturing divinity. This could be one reason for Priapus’ rise in literary popularity during the late republic/early empire.

Horace Satire 1.8: “once I was a dogwood trunk, a useless log, when a craftsman, unsure whether to make a stool or a Priapus, preferred it to be a god. Therefore I became a god.” Scamnum, the word for “stool” can be used poetically for “throne”.

Ennius uses scamna in reference to Romulus. Reading subversively, the craftsman made a choice between making a throne and making a god and preferred to make a god, perhaps a more comfortable choice than making a king.

[acertainidontknowwhat]

Two more examples of Trimalchio's vulgarity that we can explain through religious/superstitious recontextualization.

Trimalchio's boy-favorite (deliciae), Croesus, described as an elderly boy (puer vetulus) with inflamed eyes (lippus) and uglier than his master (domino...deformior). On first glance we interpret the appearance of Trimalchio's boy-favorite as just another instance of Trimalchio misunderstanding what a deliciae represents as most are chosen for their beauty. However, as one scholar points out, some Romans chose ugly or deformed enslaved people for their apotropaic power because their physical appearance could repel the evil eye. That Trimalchio chose this particular boy as his deliciae shows his worry which is consistent with his overall superstitious nature.

The second example is Trimalchio's insistence that everyone at the dinner should feel free to fart. Once again, what on first appearance seems a vulgarity, at which even our protagonist laughs, audible farting was considered to have an apotropaic effect similar to laughter because of its involuntary nature. This might explain why Trimalchio attempts to persuade everyone that their physical health is in jeopardy if they don't fart!

Trimalchio does everything in his power to ward off some perceived threat. This perhaps goes hand-in-hand with his constant focus on death. The two examples above can also be seen as emphasizing Trimalchio's humble nature, a continuation of a theme I have touched on before.

[sluttyvegetablesman]

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