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rhirsch · Site Admin Joined: 13 Oct 2010 Posts: 74

Please post reactions, questions, answers and ideas to Petronius' writing...

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pnowak2014 · Joined: 17 Oct 2011 Posts: 7

Answering the questions on MyCSW.
A bunch of Romans attend a dinner party at a wealthy man’s house. The wealthy man shows of both his wealth and his noble kind “personality.” The story is somewhat realistic, the sitting is realistic, some of the events, however, may no be very realistic. So it’s supposed to be realistic so that the readers can connect with the story. Petronius wrote the story to show the reality of the Roman elite, especially the very high elite. The author was trying to show other Romans what the reality really is in Rome. The reading educates us in a similar way that it educated the Romans that the very wealthy and powerful were not what they seemed, but a bunch of power-hungry braggers.

rhirsch · Site Admin Joined: 13 Oct 2010 Posts: 74

Yes, Philipp, Petronius is trying to tell the reader something about the upper class - but what? Be specific... Who is Trimalchio? Was he born rich? Is he a Roman? Is he powerful? Does he adhere to the mos maiorum? Go for the details...

wkwiatkowski · Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 5

I think that the main thing Petronius was trying to get across was how much money the wealthy class of Roman citizens and how they took advantage of their slaves. It shows throughout the entire story how ridiculously Trimalchio lives his life, like how he orders a bird to sit on his eggs to keep them warm and soft. Also can't help but notice that it's 8:30 and only Philip and I have posted...

wcosinuke2015 · Joined: 17 Oct 2011 Posts: 6

i think trimalchio is a freedman who is wealthy and powerful, he probably is a symbol for dictators in the past. i was wondering who was at his house for dinner? i was also wondering if trimalchio is nice or mean to his slaves because he seems like he is made but he is often just pretending. i am not really sure why this story was writen.

slanda · Joined: 17 Oct 2011 Posts: 4

Hey guys!
The story takes place at a rich guy's house. He seems nice enough, giving his guests wine and food. But i think that the author's trying to say that the leaders of Rome don't do anything for themselves. This could be because they only rely on slaves, or this could be compleatly worng. Either opiton is good.

Have a good night guys!
Wink

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molson2015 · Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 4

This piece of writing can inform us about what life was like for the slaves. Although this story is exaggerated, we can get the idea that the rich were harsh to the poor.

mgantos2015 · Joined: 18 Oct 2011 Posts: 3

HW questions:
In this scene a few men go to have dinner at Trimalchio’s house. They are all amazed at how much wealth Trimalchio has, and the completely crazy and unnecessary ways he uses it. I don’t think that this story is supposed to be realistic, both because it is written as a satire, and because I don’t think that someone could practically live the way Trimalchio does in this story. Pertronius wrote this to show everyone how ridiculous some Romans are living, to show that they are abusing their wealth, and use it for trivial and unnecessary things. He is also saying that the wealthy are incapable of doing things for themselves.

-Mabel

iharmon · Joined: 17 Oct 2011 Posts: 7

I believe this satire was centered on this one enormously rich man, its sole purpose was to portray the wealth class as pompous fools. Of course the reader finds the man a bit of a braggart and pompous man, but we can tell this men has good intentions. The author might be trying to portray this man as a false roman. He has not worked hard for his money, he has given his love to a woman he bought as a slave. He does not work at all, instead he sits in a bath and drinks, carrying himself as some sort of pathetic fool. He also cries when emotional and passionately kisses a boy, something viewed upon as highly inappropriate and strange. When his slave makes a stupid mistake, he does not punish them, he gives them gold and a glass of wine. Not too mention he seems to have false confidence and is extremely vain, even making a statue of himself for no great feat. It is supposed to be realistic, the point of the story could be to protest all of these wealthy men who are not true Romans. Petronius was trying to portray the rich in a certain way to tell Romans these people do not deserve this wealth. Historians probably saw this and considered a rare occurrence of social protest against the wealthy class. A beginning look on why the wealthy believe they can treat the less wealthier. I wonder, however, why was the author so viciously punished for this story? Another question i have is: Who were the guests and why did they visit?

okeppler2015 · Joined: 19 Oct 2011 Posts: 4

In this piece by Petronius, a bunch of men attend a dinner party at Trimalchio's house, where Trimalchio shows off all of his worldly possessions and wealth. He represents the wealth and arrogance of the wealthy class. I think that this was written to expose the bad treatment slaves were receiving.

jjessica231 · Joined: 25 Oct 2011 Posts: 4

In this scene a group of rich roman men are going to have dinner at another mans house. They are being treated very well while they are there, they are getting lots of wine and the servants are being very attentive to what ever they need. I think that this story was supposed to be realistic. to us it may not sound realistic, but back then to them it could have been. I think he wrote this story so that people could see what is was like to be an upper class roman for a night. This story educates us on what roman life was like back in the BCE era.

Leah · Joined: 17 Oct 2011 Posts: 6

The story is not supposed to be realistic, but it instead was supposed to show the unfairness and greed of the Roman government through satire. He wrote this story to try to get the people of Rome to think about their governments’ fairness. As Roman historians, we can see that the peoples view was different from the senate and dictators. Some were unhappy with the government. Tramalchio many slaves and servants, a trumpeter, and a cook whom he treats unfairly. He blames his slave for his clothes being stolen, even when it is not his fault. This might be referring to government taking advantage of the lower class.

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